


Kenji: Intelligent Ruler

by FatSmack



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Art, Dimension Travel, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Moral Ambiguity, Resurrection, Strong Haruno Sakura, Strong Tenten, adapting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:02:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28243608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatSmack/pseuds/FatSmack
Summary: After dying, seventeen-years-old, Matthew, is born in a somewhat familiar world. He hadn’t watched a lot of the anime but knew some few, yet powerful tips about what he was getting himself into, and of the events that would occur. Perhaps watching the show all the way through would’ve helped him more, but the tidbits of clips from the show are more than enough to guide him in the right direction.He’s reborn in the body of Sengeru Kenji, a foreigner of an alien clan within the Village Hidden in the Leaf, Konoha. His memories stay intact, but he’s also given the knowledge of everything that the ten-year-old vessel has to offer. Now, born in the world of Naruto, and searching for a head-start while sticking to the background, Kenji starts his journey in this new, much more exciting universe.Because, of course, the universe he came from originally didn’t consist of interesting energies and seven-foot spiders. Just debt, rioting for rights, and a lot of disappointment.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Basics: Chakra Prodigy

The last thing he'd remembered before being met with darkness, was the flash of bright lights, his spine snapping back, and the sound of a semi-truck coming right for him. He remembered that he was just your average, seventeen-year-old High-School student making his way to meet some friends, when he stopped in the middle of the road.

Now, he wasn't familiar with where his body was being pulled to, but he strangely knew what to expect; the large bold letters in front of him said so, but they only appeared when he finally realized that he had passed on. 

While others would’ve been scared, panicked, upset, or maybe disappointed, his acceptance of his fate ran by in an almost solemn demeanor. He promises that he was one of the most normal guys at school—studied restless nights over High-school Algebra 2, tried to find a nice girl to date, hung out with friends—but he was also very negative. Not the  _ douche _ kind of negative, but the kind of setting that would make someone wonder if he ate breakfast that day.

Staring at the letters, he reads them in all their strange, eccentric glory. In his own twisted, morbid imagination, he’s quite excited at not being brought to some red-flame Hell, or anything like that. His mother, Susan, was a very Christain lady; she sang for the church choir and did all of their chores, but he wasn’t a fan of how she’d always put God over him. Even if she did spoil him to death with food whenever he asked, or a two-hundred-dollar chair from Amazon. 

She never seemed to realize that he didn’t  _ love _ her, arguing with her countless times about her  _ fucked  _ philosophy that he couldn’t understand because of her own mother’s brainwashing. It didn’t  _ feel _ like she was his family, and Matthew started to wonder if he was adopted sometime between his early teens, having always been the outcast of his family because of his lack of  _ Faith _ . Trying to believe in Heaven, once upon a time, he realized that, even if it existed, he wouldn’t be able to pull out an  _ ‘out of ass’ _ faith from his bunghole like the rest of his family did.

Concluding his story, realizing that there wasn’t really anything he would miss, he instantly calms down. The only thing he  _ would _ miss, perhaps, is one of his three sisters, Riley. She was also kind of like him, just lacking the insane disposition of Faith in God, and she was his cool sister. He would miss the times that they shared together without his other, nagging siblings around, and it was a shame that her birthday wasn’t too long ago, either.

Looking up, no longer reminiscing, he reads the words in front of him.

_ Welcome, Matthew Hansel, to our Lord and Savior's Afterlife Reincarnation Facility. We are very sorry for your unfortunate death, as it is our fault that such a disappointing occurrence happened, so we are offering you a second chance to experience life. Fortunately, if you wish to decline, you have worked up just enough Karma to enter Heaven! Unfortunately, if you accept your reincarnation, we cannot bring you to the same world in which your ‘loved ones’ reside. Yet, there is one free vessel that we have prepared in another universe of my own design, and we at A.R.F are certain that you will enjoy your next life! _

_ Be warned, however, that you can still increase and decrease your Karma if you are brought back! You were a faithful believer in the afterlife, despite your empty heart for a relationship with the All-Mighty, and you were very correct to do so—we are so proud of how you grew up, Matthew, so we are giving you some complimentary gifts on entry should you accept. Upon agreeing with the contract, you will be brought to the world of Naruto; a fantasy world portrayed as an Anime in your Universe, UN-19. Due to unseen complications, your vessel rests several months before the first ‘episode’ takes place, giving you a little more time than intended to acclimate to the new setting. _

He continues to read the letters, not even noticing his lack of a corporeal body until he tries to crank his neck. Of course, it doesn't work, but he's met with an acceptance invitation with a y/n option, having fully read the contract in front of him. It's explained to him that his mind and soul would be efficiently transferred into a ten-year-old body, or vessel, in the middle of Konoha. There's obvious surprise in what would've been his face, if he had one, when he continued to read the  _ extra  _ terms and conditions.

Other than where he will be transferred, the terms are very lacking in proper information, simply stating that:  _ "when you are transferred into the body, you will gain access to memories that the vessel had possessed before transference. Provided with the memories of the vessel, your personality and soul are unaffected by this change. Your memories and ‘self’ will stay in complete tact, but your physical body will completely change into that of your new form. Linguistics will be altered, but you will not forget your original language. Along with this, you will also receive the vessel's built-up muscle memory. As a complimentary gift—there are two pending for your arrival. Should you accept, you will you will be reborn with a Kekkei Genkai to ensure a higher ‘fulfillment’ chance to 92%, and a pack of your favorite Universe-19 snacks.” _

_ ‘My favorite snacks?’ _ Matthew wonders, somewhat in a mocking and hungry tone. Shaking his head, he thinks back to what the letters had phrased out near the beginning. Surely, his mother would’ve to see him in heaven, along with his three sisters and father, but he still  _ mildly _ disliked them. He was never a  _ ‘mother’s boy’ _ , so he declines that offer—if he was right, then he should be able to whenever he dies next time. It explained that, around the end of the agreement, should he die again, he would be evaluated for  _ Heaven _ .

With that, and everything that he is, he nods.  _ ‘I accept the terms and agreement,’ _ he says with a childish tone, emotionlessly gawking at how it reminded him of those Capcha’s online.  _ ‘Could never get past the Sidewalk question,’ _ he thinks again, and the words in front of him start to lift upwards, revealing a bright light behind them. They pull at him. 

Maybe this is what people saw when they talked about seeing bright lights during death, assuming and sharing that it was God. They weren’t too far off, he guessed, shrugging with his non-existent arms. The feeling of his body, a new one, started to rouse him up, but he keeps thinking.

_ I guess God is real,’ _ he tries to say, being pulled into the vortex.  _ ‘But… it never said which one, did it?’ _

* * *

_ “What was that, Kenji?” _ A tall woman in front of him asks, having stared into his eyes with worry. Then, at that moment,  _ ‘Kenji’ _ comes to life, immediately zapped directly into the new vessel's body. He looks around for a moment, recalling how smooth that transition was, but can’t remember saying anything to the person in front of him. 

_ ‘I… know this place,’ _ he thinks, shivering at how  _ ‘himself’ _ he was. Other people, he’s certain of it, would be overwrought with how quickly everything was going, but he considered himself a very free and accepting person to a lot of scenarios: breakups, losing his pinky, and even the degrading society around him.

_ “Dear, you worry me when you look at me like that!” _ She continues to fright, still lowering herself to her knees to look at me, just moments before she calls for her husband. Kimaru, he knows his name, comes from what appears to be the kitchen. The expression on his face shows great concern, obviously not used to having his name called out like this.

He’s a tall, tan man with an average figure yet toned arms, and a tight nose. There’s a patch of whitened skin on his left eye, and his irises are a pure purple with small, sprinkled flakes of black scattered across them. On the bottom is a little bit of a beard growing on his chin, and the hair that rests on his head is curly and chocolate brown, just like his mother’s. Said woman brought her husband to the boy’s attention.

_ ‘Those eyes,’ _ the reincarnated child thinks,  _ ‘I… I have eyes like that, too, right?’ _ He can’t help but ask himself that, knowing that he’d be a real lady-killer with eyes like those. Recalling on the unfamiliar memories, he smiles at knowing that he does—not only that, but he’s a near-perfectly framed kid that could endear his own cuteness into getting items for half the price.

_ ‘Is it wrong that I called ‘myself’ cute?’ _ He questions the philosophy, paling at the next thought,  _ ‘I’m ten!’ _ Taking a deep breath, still paying no attention to his shouting parents, he looks at his hands and focuses on the important memories deep inside him. 

_ ‘My name is Sengeru Kenji, and I am nearing at what will be the end of summer; the Academy will open back up, and I will have an entire hundred-sixty-two days to decide if I want to enroll as a Shinobi—according to what this ‘host’ knew prior… he wanted to become the strongest Shinobi with a perfect ideology,’ _ Kenji thinks calmly, quickly acclimating to his new environment. Though,  _ Matthew _ still doesn’t adjust to his new parent’s concerns, shaking him and attempting to  _ ‘snap out of it, Kenji.’ _

He does, and he falters when he tries to take a step back from the two adults. Scared, no, just curious to get a better look at them.  _ ‘My parents,’ _ he thinks, reminiscing to another blast of reality. It struck him hard enough that he fell to the ground, lying on the ground to think a little more properly.

_ “W-we’re taking you to the hospital if you don’t stop that, Kenji!” _ She frets again, and the boy smiles for reasons unknown to her. A soft voice cracks from his throat, but he manages to raise himself on his own two wobbling feet before actually speaking a sentence.

Kenji looks at the woman, popping his jaw before whispering,  _ “sorry." _ Akira, his mother, brings him into a comforting hug, patting his back as a  _ loving  _ mother  _ should _ . This brings a smile to Kenji’s lips. He already likes this new mom more than his original. He returns the embrace. 

She’s soft and warm, and he feels so welcome with her. Kimaru joins in, hugging him as well, and he feels  _ secure _ .  _ ‘I’d never be able to hug mine like this,’ _ he backs his head away from his mother and bows his head, his mannerisms coming back to his body. 

_ “I was thinking, Madre,” _ he says casually before wincing at calling her his  _ ‘Madre’ _ . It was something that, despite being fully American, he called his mother.  _ “I, um, need to-to go to… bedroom!” _

The feeling of his voice, the way it tightened because of his age, made it hard to speak for a moment. Akira and Kimaru have alerted gazes in their eyes, and Kenji knows that they know something is up.  _ ‘My room should be over here,’ _ met with the door, he walks in and closes it. Paper-thin-style and probably more fragile than glass, he gently sets it back in place.

Never had he been acquainted with such an oddly styled home— _ ’never have I been reincarnated!’ _ —so it was surprising to observe his surroundings. In his room, he can already tell that his parents are  _ very _ well off in terms of money.  _ ‘My Madre is an Optometrist, and Padre is a Plumer?’ _ he thinks, audibly laughing at the thought. Not that he was making fun of them! It was just so funny to think that, in a world like  _ Naruto _ , such regular jobs existed.

_ ‘I’m in the world of Naruto,’ _ Kenji realizes, dropping into a bean bag in the center of the room with a huff of exhaustion.  _ ‘Just,’ _ he shakes his head,  _ ‘twenty minutes ago, I was worried about my Math test… it was getting so close to Christmas, too.’ _

Huddling into a ball,  **Matthew** takes the time to manually ponder about where he was. What he was doing. What to do?

_ ‘I only watched Naruto, like, one time! And that was so long ago that I can’t remember anything but a few key details,’ _ he closes his eyes and thinks about the  _ AMV  _ he was listening to last night, the day before he died. 

The images came to mind: Naruto using  _ Shadow Clone Jutsu _ ,  _ Rasengan _ ,  _ Rasen Shuriken _ , and the memory of a fanfiction that he had read just a few months ago out of curiosity. He thanked his past self for doing so—there was a lot that he needed to get caught up on. 

* * *

Several hours had passed since he locked himself in his room; he returned to the living area when he was done thinking, gathering his mind together before it shattered into a thousand pieces from reality continuously reminding him of what happened. He was always quick to migraines in his previous life whenever he needed to focus on something deeply thought out, and it definitely transferred here as well. His eyes hurt around the top, feeling as if they’d been punched.

_ ‘Once school starts, I’ll attend my final year at the Academy and take a shot for Genin,’ _ he thinks seriously, focusing on the energy that’s inside of him. Kenji had previously known how to tap into his Chakra and use it in some exercises, taught to him and most other students at school. He was initially worried that his  _ vessel _ was lacking behind other students, but was relieved of his tension when he found out that the more  _ Complicated Basics _ came in during the final year.

So, if he was correct, people like Sasuke, Hinata, Lee, and even Neji have only  _ just _ started their training, while Naruto is nearing his last year of failure. Currently, Kenji knew several techniques already:  _ Floating Paper Exercise _ ,  _ Chakra Focus _ , and  _ Transformation Jutsu _ . Despite this, he had little to no muscle, but was much stronger than the average child, and was certain that he could use his Chakra to enhance it even further. The only reason he was slightly ahead of the Chakra game was because… 

Akira looks at him from the couch, talking to a friend over her ancient-looking phone that sits on the table with a cord connected to the main device. She smiles at him warmly before patting the cushion next to her, still conversing with her friend happily. Kenji gets the hint and comes forward, managing his way onto the seat, and leans into the woman. 

_ ‘I might be a dignified teen, and she might not be my real mother,’ _ he yawns into her chest,  _ ‘but who could pass this up? Hugging somebody like this?’ _

Akira lays the phone back into its socket, saying her goodbyes to a name that Kenji recognizes. As of why she was talking to the Haruno family was for another day, and he didn’t even bother to retrieve any memories for it. The taller woman puts a hand on his head and massages his scalp—he wondered if any of the other kids at school were treated like this, or if it was just a civilian thing.

_ ‘My Kekkei Genkai.’ _ Peering up at his mother, a curious look in his eyes, she stops rubbing her hand against his head.  _ “Something on your mind?” _ she asks hoarsely, staring at her son’s magnificent eyes with wonder. Everyone related to her husband had them—they carried the heritage, so it was only natural that her only son would have them as well.

_ “Can you tell me about my Kekkei Genkai?” _ Kenji asks, knowing only the small amount of information that was given to him. 

She nods, albeit a little surprised.  _ “Your father should be the one you ask—but why now, dear? Have you been… experiencing anything?” _

Shaking his head, he leans up,  _ “n-no, I just wanted to know more since I only know about a few things. There has to be more, right?” _

_ “Hm,” _ she hums in thought before putting an arm around her son’s shoulders and leaning deeper into the couch.  _ “Well, your Kekkei Genkai comes from your father—but you know that already,” _ she stops for a moment to think about her next words,  _ “You and your fathers Kekkei Genkai is stored in the eyes; long ago, before your father moved to Konoha, he used to live in one of the many hidden villages… in that village, it was rumored that the  _ _ Kuinomichi _ _ would give the person the ability to see Chakra.” _

Kenji, obviously, became sporadic at hearing this information, but instantly died down, realizing that he couldn’t  _ actually _ see his, his father’s, nor his mother’s Chakra. He thinks about what his father told him about it, but it doesn’t quite build up enough information for him to go off of.

Akira noticed his excitement slowly turn into disappointment, expecting it, and continued.  _ “This was just a rumor, though. They thought that this was the case because of how special your eyes are, and because those with them would recover their Chakra exponentially fast. Not to mention how those with the  _ _ Kuinomichi _ _ were born with a much greater Chakra pool than most at birth.” _

Kenji nods in understanding, taking it in. He looks down at his stomach, thinking about it for a moment when he looks back at his mother.  _ “So, because of the  _ _ Kuinomichi _ _ , people thought that we would take the Chakra from others?” _ He suddenly remembers his father talking about it at the dinner table once, but it didn’t mean anything to him at the time.

_ “Yeah, that’s right!” _ She sounds impressed,  _ “if only you acted this smart at school, goof-ball… but, yeah, talk to your father about it. The rumors might just be true, dear.” _

The secret teenager deepens himself into the couch, closing his eyes as he prepares himself for his next question.  _ “Can we go to the library tomorrow?” _ He asks, trying to sound as innocent as a ten-year-old possibly could, even if the ten-year-olds of this world could be considered strong enough to easily kill tens of people.  _ ‘Even the Transformation Technique is dangerous… I’ll focus on developing that later,’ _ he’s filled with excitement at the thought.

_ “The library?” _ She says, confused,  _ “you’ve never liked books, Kenji—is something going on? A-are you hanging with—” _

Chuckling, he stops his mother from continuing.  _ "No, Madre,” _ he winces at the mispronunciation again,  _ “um, there’s just something that I was wanting to look at, but I don’t think I can afford what I need.” _

_ “Mooching off your poor mother, huh?” _ She smiles lovingly,  _ “heh, okay… we’ll go tomorrow, but you have to tell me what you’re looking for, first.” _ There’s a grimace on her face as she looks into the distance,  _ “I can’t believe they have an entire section for that Icha Icha crap…” _

* * *

The night went by much quicker than Kenji thought it would, near-instantly falling asleep the moment he went back to his room; apparently, he’d been reincarnated sometime in the late afternoon, and all of his hard thinking demanded a long rest. Those demands were appeased when he overslept, right past the alarm that he didn’t even know that he had.

_ Madre _ had prepared him some food, and his  _ Padre  _ woke him up before leaving the house to go to work. The little nicknames that he had made for his original parents would stick, and he liked the ring. He just hoped that they’d stick, even if Spanish didn’t exist in this world, and that they’d probably see it as a good thing.

Speaking of his mother, she’s just finished her food, preparing herself to leave for the little shopping trip that she’d promised him last night.  _ ‘My original mother would’ve sat on the couch and disagreed,’ _ he scoffed at the memory, putting on the small jacket that was on the rack next to the door.  _ ‘Not saying that I wanted it ‘my way’ but she never had a good reason… always talking to those damn, psycho Christians that claimed they were Dream-Seers on Facebook.’ _

Being angry at his mother wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he shakes the memory from his mind. That doesn’t mean he’ll forget, but he’s more than happy where he is right now to ever consider going back.  _ “How far is the library?” _ He asks, looking up at the taller woman,  _ “I don’t think I’ve ever been there.” _

_ “Not too far, dear. It should be somewhere near the Academy, so it shouldn’t take that long,” _ she explains, walking close beside Kenji with a smile on her face. The sun was still setting into place, so not a lot of people had been walking about, that exception applied to some newer looking Genin and Shinobi walking around the village. 

Fifteen minutes pass quite slowly, but he enjoys every second of the new atmosphere, and his mother had given him permission to run about the library while she checks something out herself. He watched as she entered an aisle with a paper attached to the shelving, displaying the words  _ ‘Kekkei Genkai’ _ on its front. 

Turning back around, ignoring his surroundings, he looks for the categories of books he came here for; he was always a firm believer that knowledge was key to success, and having been reincarnated in a world with many opportunities, he wasn’t going to waste a second. _‘History,’_ he enters the pathway and looks for the biggest book he can find. He eventually does and reads the side: _History of Ninja 1-20 — History of Konoha 1-7_. 

“Woah,” he huffs, not expecting to buckle his knees from the weight of the thing. However, this just makes him all the more excited to learn. He pushes some Chakra in his arms, and the book becomes near-weightless—was that how it worked in the show, he wonders? No wonder everyone was destroying concrete and trees with their fists, but he wasn’t particularly shocked.

Placing the book on a nearby table, he makes his way back to another aisle, and he notices how everyone is looking at him enter, surprised, shocked, or slightly curious looks on their faces.  _ ‘Fuinjutsu.’ _ One of the most versatile and ignored jutsu’s in existence, turned into an artform by the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. A writer for most of the books he saw, actually, just next to the  _ Pervy Sage _ .

He smiles when he grabs the book closest to him, blowing off the dirt and dust that had collected on it in what seemed like months, and this was the one closes to the entrance. As he grabs the book, he swipes the dirt from its title:  _ Fuinjutsu: The Basics Vol.1 _ . With it came another few books,  _ Fuuinjutsu: The Basics Vol.2 _ ,  _ Fuinjutsu: Guide to Perfect Strokes _ ,  _ Fuinjutsu: Basic Seals and Stroke Tips _ .

Just in case, he added a few more volumes of  _ The Basics _ , not looking forward to having to leave his room in what he assumes will be a long and exciting flow of studying. He thought that he could call upon some knowledge over Konoha’s history from his vessel’s mind, but it lacked anything interesting or useful, devoid of proper education.

It was ironic how History was actually his favorite subject, having studied the temples left behind by ancient civilizations, scepters, and mysterious items that were said to have Godly powers imbued into them, so he knew that he’d have a lot of fun for the next few days. He looks down at the pile of books and adds a few more:  _ Chakra Control: How To Improve Vol.1-3 _ ,  _ Chakra Control: Tree Walking & Vertical Exertion _ , and  _ Learning Hand Seals: Ultimate Guide _ .

_ ‘Oh,’ _ he pales when he realizes how big the stack had gotten. Akira had finished her search a long time ago, talking to one of the other women in the library—she had bright, creamy blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue kimono and baggy, yet fashionable blue pants.  _ ‘Ino’s mother?’ _ He thinks, grabbing the bottom of the stack and moving it to the table where they were conversing. His muscles screamed at him, even with the slight use of Chakra.

_ “Madre—uh, mom?” _ He says, glad that he was able to correct himself this time. She had to have caught onto him by now, but if she did, it was completely overridden by her surprised expression.  _ “I’m done… would it be okay if we bought these? We’d have to rent the History book, though, since there aren’t any copies on the shelving,” _ he pauses, realizing just how crazy he was acting.

The blonde woman looks at Kenji with a glare and points, looking at his mother as she asks, “that your son, Akria-chan?” Akira nods, and the blonde scans over him with a judging eye when she smiles, “he’s adorable!”

Her hands find themselves covering her heart dramatically, hinting that she really thought he was cute. Kenji is too caught up in thought to give her a reaction, though, so the mood quickly fades away.  _ ‘I shouldn’t be so hollow,’ _ he thinks and gives the woman a smile and a wave.

“I didn’t take your son to be such a bookworm, Akira-chan,” the blonde sighs in surprise, “you’re so lucky! All my little Ino does is brag about her crush and complain about having weird-smelling shampoo and conditioner. I spoil her rotten, and that’s how she treats me?” She growls to herself before calming down with a groan.

* * *

His back was, in an almost literal sense, on fire. He’d been given a multi-layered bag to carry all the books and was forced to toss it over his back, his arms unable to carry them without great struggle. A mental reminder to work out his new body in the future, and given his Kekkei Genkai, he should be able to do that twice as much faster than his competition.

_ ‘It’s good that I’m getting a headstart,’ _ he smiles to himself, dropping the pile of books on his carpet. Flicking on the lights, he sorts through the books and brings them to his L-desk. The history book, being the biggest one, rests on the L-portion of the desk, while his  _ Fuinjutsu _ and  _ Chakra Control _ guides sit in the center-portion.  _ ‘A little different from my desktop set up with three monitors, but this will do.’ _

Taking a deep, hesitant breath, he turns to his right and opens the history book in all its glory. He’s met with the author’s and editors’ names, accompanied by a list of key-chapters and a word gallery. The book was, if you were actually ten, the scariest looking thing in the world.  _ ‘I’ve read longer,’ _ he chuckles, skipping to the  _ real _ first page.

Not planning on reading it quite yet, he turns to the other books in his repertoire. He picks up the  _ Chakra Control: How to Improve Vol.1-3 _ and stands from his chair. It’s heavy in his hands, so he allows his chakra to flow ever so slightly to his palm and elbow, enhancing the joints—he shouldn’t even know how to do that yet, he realized, but maybe it was due to his  _ Kuinomichi _ that it felt so natural.

Just like how Naruto didn’t need to search for his Chakra at a young age, since his Chakra reserves were so intense, the same applied to Kenji; an obvious indication of what he’d be capable of in the future should he hone in on that advantage. Reading the first few pages, he walks out of his room, eyes glued to the pages, and feels something hit his feet. He looks down and his eyes widen in ecstasy.

_ ‘When did these get here!?’ _ he internally screams, picking up the large box of  _ SlimJims™  _ and  _ No-Mans-Land-Jerky™ _ that sat in front of his door. He doesn’t put the book away, but lowers to his knees to read the small note dangling on the top.

_ Good evening, Sengeru Kenji. Since we were unable to bring you your complimentary snacks from your previous Universe on time, we have decided to compensate for your kind patience with a larger quantity in hopes that you can forgive our discrepancies. This will most likely be the last time we speak until your next reincarnation, or when you are ready to go to Heaven. Also, I have been watching you acquaint yourself with the environment and am very glad to see that you are taking it so calmly. You are very special, and I give you my blessings! _

Somehow, the note made him blush a little at knowing there was somebody watching over him. But, whether it was God, an Angel, or even Budah and his nine brothers, he had no idea. It was most likely whoever was assigned to giving him his  _ contract _ when he passed… the thoughts dwell on him, but he waves them off by picking up the box and bringing it to his room.

He happily opens it to find every crevice of the cardboard, split into two sections, filled with his two favorite snacks. It feels to him that this week is going to go by faster than he thought, plopping a hard, dry piece of jerky in his mouth as he continues to read the book in front of him.

_ Now, by sealing off non-essential Chakra points around the body, or focusing your Chakra to one specific joint and shutting off the flow of energy to limbs that are not in use, you gain a higher resistance to  _ _ Chakra Leakage _ _. This ‘Leakage’ is what causes most learners to exhaust their ‘flames’ at an accelerated rate, preventing them from filling their Chakra Reservoir throughout the day. For a proper exercise to enhance one’s own Chakra Conservation throughout typical activities, via subconscious exercise, go to  _ _ Glossary.33 _ _ on pg.344. This is where you will be given an assortment of techniques that may suit your convenience. _

_ However, for those with higher Chakra reserves, go to  _ _ Glossary.80 _ _ on pg.477. This is where you can safely learn how to stop major Chakra leakage through a plentiful variety of exercises and techniques. As an addition, you may also undergo the use of  _ _ Fuinjutsu _ _ , where you will be given instructions for the proper, basic  _ _ Chakra Struggle Sealing Jutsu _ _. Anything higher ranked than the provided basic D-Rank  _ _ Fuinjutsu _ _ is forbidden to all civilians or in-training Genin in the protection of your safety.  _

_ If you have chosen the latter, and wish to but have no prior experience with  _ _ Fuinjutsu _ , _ then stop what you are doing and visit your local library for a  _ _ Guide to Fuinjutsu _ _ and the more popularized  _ _ Guide to Perfect Strokes _ _ , now available around the world. However, if you wish to apply yourself to the arts of  _ _ Fuinjutsu _ _ , still consider using the plentiful other techniques provided. Using different methods will help create balance and relaxation to the Chakra points. _


	2. Fuinjutsu: The Basics

Sitting up, Kenji sighs in exhaustion, his muscles sore from using his newest favorite _Fuinjutsu_ ; scratch that, he _loved_ all of them. Several weeks have passed since he started practicing with these _’powers’_ he was given, and he’s nearing the end of his History book. Since his Summer schedule was completely consisting of free time, with no friends in this world to hang out with, he’s been content on learning as much he can as quickly as possible. 

Unlike other ten-year-olds, he was quite acquainted with late-night studying and pushed through his immense boredom from time to time, willing himself to go a little further than his last session. Besides, he was still _human_ , after all, and there was always an awful pang of languor from time to time whenever the authors would mention something he already knew about Shinobi History. He was never a fan of repetition. And it wasn’t very often, but he’d feel pressured to put the books away and talk to his new and improved parents.

So far, it was going quite well, and he even had time to re-read the first volume of _Chakra Control_ . _Fuinjutsu_ and the such weren’t quite as fast, still having to read the next two volumes of _Chakra Control_ , but he was making a decent mark in the little time he spent. 

_‘It would be faster if I had that_ _Shadow Clone Jutsu_ _, though,’_ he’d think to himself every now and then, concocting some kind of plan to get the jutsu in his repertoire at some point. He knew when, but it would take some time— _’maybe I could ask someone who knows it?’_

Rubbing his arms, he stretches his limbs and focuses on the Chakra that's restoring itself rapidly—nothing Godly, nor particularly extravagant, but he was confident that it would grow as he trained. Surely, if he put his mind to it, he might even be able to perfect the few techniques he's been practicing on this past month.

Following this, he deactivates the _Taijū Seigen Seal (Weight Restraint)_ on his stomach. It was the only D-rank Justu that he rushed himself to learn, and it came along much easier than he thought it would: this seal would allow him to flow solid Chakra into it and give it an increased weight distribution throughout his body. Had he stepped on a weighing scale, he'd be an additional sixty pounds, having added a large mass to his core Chakra points.

When his eyes close, focusing on releasing the last weight on his body, he finds himself being lifted up off his butt and onto his feet. 

_"You’re gonna get hurt one of these days, y’know?”_ Akira worries over her son, having looked for and found him in their backyard. Her son was getting stranger and stranger—but in a good way, and she could see that he was really working his hardest to achieve his goal of becoming a powerful genin. Despite her and her husband’s own worries, hearing many stories of the Shinobi life from their friends, they cheered him on.

_“I know when to stop,”_ Kenji replies coyly, feeling lighter now that the seals were taken off. He’d been slowly improving his muscles over the past near-month, and started to skyrocket after finally learning the basic concepts of _Fuinjutsu_. The first-ever seal he tried to make, thinking it would be easy, ended up having the ink burn off the paper. At the thought, he’s brought back to the tenth page of one particular book.

_As you are trying to stream your Chakra into the ink, be sure that you put very little and that you are in a safe environment given that the ink could boil down. Due to the chemical properties of ink, the flow of Chakra can cause the liquid to burn and soak through the paper or surface you are sealing. Because of this, under no circumstances are any of those who are not familiar with_ _Fuinjutsu_ _to attempt this on skin or living biological tissue._

_If you have a high concentrate of Chakra, be sure to put as little of Chakra into the touch-stroke at the ends of the first markings and let an easy, waterfall-like stream of energy travel through it. If this is your first time experiencing_ _Fuinjutsu_ _, practice with your Chakra control with any of the aforementioned exercises before starting to apprehend greater results._

Kenji thought back to how the ink had caught on fire and burned his desk. It was a wake-up call to him just how essential Chakra control was, and he immediately put _Fuinjutsu_ on hold, focusing on bettering his Chakra control before continuing. Already, his control over his Chakra was mediocre enough to let him perform a few E-Rank jutsu for Academy students, so the extra _70_ , raw hours worth of practicing bestowed wonderful progress. And, while he didn’t know for sure, he was confident that he was already quite a handful ahead of what his classmates would be when he gets back.

Though, not everyone could do jump at the rate he was going—his Kekkei Genkai allowed him to practice his Chakra control for hours on end and continuously repair his _‘Chakra Air-ways’_ , given that he would restore the Chakra at a faster rate than he would use it. However, if he were to use higher tier Jutsu’s that required more Chakra, he wouldn’t recover from it as quickly.

_‘I was failing math at school before I came here,’_ he scoffs angrily at the random thought, making his mother tilt her head in confusion. _‘Fucking useless shit. Who the Hell uses Quadratic Functions, and who the shit cares about Vortex Formula,’_ his head starts to hurt at the memories of painful nights of studying, having cried from time to time when realized how he was unable to get ahead on the subject.

“Kenji? You okay?” The kind woman lowers herself a bit and puts a hand on his back, leading him to his room and sitting him on his bed. 

_“I’m fine,”_ he answers back, following.

He ignored the way that she plopped herself next to him and looked at his desk in awe. The last time that she was in here was before they left for the library, and she’s shocked to see that there are books, small puddles of ink, and even plastic wrappers scattered across the room. 

She can’t recognize what they are, so she looks back at her son. “You’ve been working really hard,” she begins softly, but she also sounds nervous. Sighing, she looks at Kenji suspiciously, “but… you’ve never worked this hard in your whole life, Kenji. Y-your father and I… we’re a little worried about you—if something happened?”

Kenji smiles. He likes talking to his mother, this new and improved woman sitting beside him, but he’d been so busy with studying the History of this new _planet_ and its people, along with Chakra and _Fuinjutsu_ , the latter of which has come to him easier than he’d thought it would.

Before he died, he did some bits of programming for some new classes. _Fuinjutsu_ was almost like a physical copy of that; while he wasn’t _good_ at coding, he was pretty well acquainted with at least the intermediate steps. He never really liked the subject, but it wasn’t too hard for him when he really wanted to do it. Now, given the chance to study over something that was just like it, except that it benefited him? Of course, he would excel at the craft.

Turning his head to look at her, he can feel the sprinkles inside of his eyes dart across his irises. _“No,”_ he answers quickly, _“when I saw a poster of the Yondaime Hokage, I finally realized how hard I would need to work if I really wanted to become as strong as him one day.”_

The boy looks over at the tags, ink jar, and blank sheets of paper that rest on his desk before clutching at his bedsheets. _“Thank you for the books, Mom,”_ he whispers cutely, _“I don’t think I ever thanked you for them.”_

* * *

No phone, no internet, and no _Youtube™_ for the last month were a lot more challenging than he’d have thought it to be. He wasn’t really attached to those things, but at least he had something to listen to whenever he went to sleep at night—the air conditioner in his room was good enough to put him at ease, but he misses the sound of his world’s music. Or, at the very least, the LoFi he would chill out to whenever he was studying.

Just some of the few things that brought quality to his life, he thought, and looked up at the towering building in front of him. It’s a large concoction of cement and brick, and it’s about thirty times the size of his own home. The thing that caught his attention the most would be the triangular, smooth China-style roof that it had on the front while the rest stayed flat.

He looks down at his feet and walks forward before turning back up, a large red door now in front of him. Opening it, he’s met with the smell of chalk and recently waxed floor tiles. _‘School,’_ he realizes, and starts making his way to his classroom gleefully. He’d been preparing for this moment ever since he had come to accept what his life would be.

Given, he had memories of being here, but this was _his_ time to shine. To understand what exactly school would be like now that _he_ was in control. So, taking a deep breath, he opens the classroom door and shuffles in. There wouldn’t be class for another ten minutes, actually, so the room was almost completely empty, only three students and a single teacher inside.

The latter was standing up against his podium, a large scar across his nose, and was currently reading through a green colored book. He looks up when he hears the door open and smiles, giving a small wave. 

“Good morning, Kenji,” he says to the familiar student. Iruka had taught him in the same classroom last year, so it was quite a coincidence to have him again as the students were typically swapped through classes. 

“Morning! It’s been a while,” the boy replies before looking around the room, taking it all in.

“It sure has! I hope you enjoyed your Summer Break—oh, I’m assigning seats today, so why don’t you go ahead and sit by Tenten.” He points toward the girl in question and she peers up at them when she hears her name. 

She gives a wave and friendly smile to Kenji as he walks up to her; she sits in the far back left corner with only one chair open by her side, which the boy settles into. _‘That’s odd,’_ Kenji thinks to himself, unintentionally staring at her. _‘I was certain that Tenten was a year ahead of the Naruto series…’_

“Is there something on my face?” she asks, crossing her eyes to see if there was.

Kenji stifles a chuckle and waves his hands, “no, no, I just dozed off. I do that sometimes.” He stops looking at her and turns to the students that are present in the room: _Hyuga Neji, Akimichi Choji,_ and _Hyuga Hinata_. 

_‘Yeah, something big has changed.’_ He instinctually puts his hands around his mouth in deep thought, but is snapped out of it when he calms himself and turns his attention to what will probably be his acquaintance for until they graduate. 

She does and same and points at herself. “My name’s Tenten,” she greets herself, holding out her hand expectantly, “you?”

Kenji, looking down at her hands, wraps _both_ of his around them comfortingly, trying to be as friendly as possible. He can feel their eyes connect for a moment, and he can see her cheeks flush a bit of red as he does. Perhaps it was a little much.

“It’s nice to meet you, Tenten-san,” he says softly, letting go of her hands shortly after, “my name’s Kenji.” He give her a small laugh as emphasis and directs her sight back to his spectacles.

She’s distracted when a few more students pile themselves into the classroom, causing some ruckus about a certain Uchiha sitting too far away from them. “They seem excited,” Kenji continues, trying to act oblivious to the three girls that were harassing the raven-haired student.

“Yeah… that’s Sasuke and his pack of fan-girls,” she groans and crosses her arms before glaring at Kenji, “I’d stay away from them if I were you—they cause nothing but trouble.”

The boy nods and gives the bun-haired girl another smile. _“I wouldn’t want to, anyway,”_ he returns his focus to what little he knows about Tentens’ character and states, _“besides, you’re actually trying to become a strong Kunoichi, unlike them, right?”_

She raises an eye at his comment and tilts her head, “really, now?” She responds sarcastically, “what gave it away?”

Having always been a somewhat straightforward person, Kenji points a finger to her hands; they sit on the table, displayed to him. _“Well, your hands look rougher than usual—I’m guessing that you’re skilled in weapons, right? Like kunai and swords?”_

Her smile lights up the room, he notices, and she pulls a small kunai from a seal inside pocket. She chuckles, “you’re a pretty good guesser, then—and I’m assuming you’re good at _Fuinjutsu_?”

Kenji looks down at where she was staring and spots the flimsy scroll and brush that sticks out. In return to her action, he pulls out the scroll and brush and places it on the table with delight. He loved the craft, so he couldn’t help but analyze the containment scroll that she had taken out, carrying her kunai.

_‘It’s flimsy,’_ he thinks, reading over the scroll. _‘Obviously manufactured at a low-quality shop, or written by a beginner,’_ he looks back up at Tenten with excited, curious eyes. “Yes, I am—um, would you mind if I improved this? I’d have to take whatever you have in it out first, though.”

She hums in thought at first before shaking her head, “go for it. I can always make more, and I only just started making them a few days ago.” Placing her hand on the seal, several more kunai and a single sword pop out of it in a poof of smoke. 

Doing as she says, he flows some chakra into his brush and slides it against the paper. It was an E-Rank technique that he learned to use from the _Fuinjutsu_ guide, stating that the technique could be used to create an alternate substance to ink that works just as effectively. The next step for him would be to learn how to do the same but for his fingers in case he didn’t have a brush, but he wasn’t going to risk burning off his skin until he was certain that he had enough control over his pathways.

Finishing the stroke, he turns back to Tenten. _“You said it was your first time?”_ He questions her; she nods, now observing the new line of _‘code’_ written on the fabric, as well as some corrections to her own concoction. 

Her face turns red at how much he had fixed, losing her optimism. “W-was it that bad?” A tad of sweat drops from her forehead, “heh, maybe I should—”

_“It was pretty good, Tenten-san,”_ Kenji swiftly praises her, _“if you keeps this up, you’ll be pretty good at sealing in no time—I can teach you how to improve after school, if you’d like. I’d be more than happy to.”_ The demon inside his head grins at the possibility of having someone to practice with. Maybe, in return, she could teach him how to actually hold a kunai.

Said girl flushes at the way he grins at her and combs his unkempt hair with his free hand. “I-I don’t know,” she says, never being in a situation like this before. 

Kenji notices the way she repells from the thought and prompts the brush in his right hand back into his pocket. _“That’s okay,”_ he whispers in a sing-song voice, _“I can always lend you one of my books, if you’d like—”_

“No, no!” She quickly rejects his offer, “that’s fine… I’ll consider it.”

Kenji pumps his fist upwards in visible excitement. _“Awesome!”_ He looks down at the scroll and kunai before flowing his chakra into the fabric, absorbing the weapons. _“But, if you do, do you think you could teach me a few things about_ _Kenjutsu?_ _”_

* * *

School was a lot easier, and educational, than the show gave it credit for, that was for certain. And, while most of the students, mainly _Naruto_ and _Shikimaru_ , found it boring and _‘not cool’_ , he found every subject to be as interesting as hidden temples in adventure movies. In fact, if everyone else in the classroom paid as much attention to the subjects as he did, then they’d have learned a lot in just that one day alone. For him, though, it wouldn’t have as much of an effect—the teachers did repeat themselves quite a lot but, other than that, he was already well informed on where the jutsu’s came from and a lot of their history.

_“_ So, Tenten-san,” Kenji rotates in his chair to look at her as she puts her _Genjutsu_ homework in the seal that he’d improved greatly earlier that morning. “I asked if you’d like to go over that _Fuinjutsu_ after school?” He makes sure that his smile is prominent as he says this.

Tenten slowly stands from her chair. She giggles to herself and returns the look; she’d gotten to know him better as the school day went by, and he was a pretty nice guy. Quiet during classes, observant of his surroundings, and very motivated were just a few of the things she could see in him. He even told her a few things about himself between classes and during recess.

“Yeah, I’m free,” she says excitedly, skipping past him, “but I gotta be home in a few hours today.”

Jumping to his feet, Kenji makes his way to her side and walks towards the exit. “Oh,” he hums, “in that case, I’ll just run you through the basics for today! I can come over to your place next time to learn some Kenjutsu, if that’s fine with you?”

She accepts his offer by swinging her kunai in the air and spinning it between her fingers. “Sounds like a plan, Kenji-san,” she opens the door for him and he thanks her, “my parents aren’t used to visitors, though, so we’ll just have to train in the backyard at the shop.”

“Sweet! Maybe I can convince you to give me a discount someday,” he laughs, and she does the same but slightly softer.

“Good luck with that,” she remarks, “my father wouldn’t save your life without giving you a check.”

* * *

The walk was short, but their conversation was long. So, when Akira and Kimaru heard their son’s voice, accompanied by a female one, walk through the front door, they looked at each other with confused expressions. Ever since Kenji was born, he _never_ brought friends over, and was a generally dull kid. Of course, they loved him to death, but they always tried to break him out of his shell—something that he’d been doing himself for the last month now.

Watching him walk inside, he continues to talk to the girl at his side, “—hit my head with a rock. I thought I was gonna die!”

Tenten pales at the thought, suddenly adorning an angry expression. “She threw a rock at you? Why would she do that?” She asks, listening to his story..

“She didn’t mean to—it was covered with wet sand and I was the one who started the sand-fight,” the boy laughs at the story, but Tenten doesn’t look too satisfied with his explanation. They both stand in the doorway and put their stuff by the wall, completely oblivious to the two parents gawking at them from the couch.

“They took me to the Hospital after that. I was lucky I didn’t get a concussion… you should’ve seen it, there was blood everywhere—”

His mother lifts herself from the couch and looks back at him incredulously, making herself and her husband known to the two students. “B-blood?” she says worriedly, ignoring Tenten’s presence, “what’s this about blood?”

“And who’s your friend, Kenji,” his father asks, “you’ve never brought a friend over before, have you?” He interrogates his son, trying and failing to be ominous with his tone.

“I have,” Kenji lies sarcastically, “they sneak in through the back window when you’re asleep.” Both parents look at each other as if their son wasn’t lying. He laughed when he told them he was kidding and finally brought their attention to his companion.

“This is Tenten-san,” he gestures towards her and she waves at them politely. “I’m gonna teach her how to practice fuinjutsu so she can make better scrolls,” he explains, “I’ll be going over to her shop someday soon so I can learn some kenjutsu afterwards, if that’s alright with you.”

The couple nod their heads, “of course you can! And it’s nice to meet you, Tenten-san, my name’s Kimaru.” His father welcomes her. 

“Yes, it’s nice to meet one of Kenji’s friends! My name’s Akira. Just tell me if there’s anything you need—I’ll be on the couch if you do.”

“I’ll remember, thank you,” she laughs at her new _friend’s_ parents, adoring their relaxed and welcoming personalities. Her father wouldn’t be so forgiving if she met Kenji. She shivers at the though, but is dragged out of her thoughts when Kenji guides her to his room, leaving his door open so she could feel a little safer in his company.

“Sorry if it’s a little messy,” he kicks a bundle of plastic wrappers under his bed, “I haven’t got to clean it for a few days, and I wasn’t really expecting a visitor anytime soon.” As he says this, he reaches for the extra chair beside the foot of his bed and places it next to his by his desk. The desk has papers strawn about its surface, so he organizes the books and sets his scrolls and paint in place. 

_‘It’s a good thing I was a writer in my past life,’_ he sighs, _‘otherwise I’d still be learning how to make better strokes, and there’d be a lot more paint.’_

“No, it’s fine,” she makes her way to the new chair that’s been set out for her and looks at the mess of papers and ink. “Mine is about the same, but with pointy, deadly weapons… probably why Mika-chan hates my room.”

Kenji turns to her from his chair and hands her a brush that’s been covered in ink. She takes it without a hitch and leans over a newly provided sheet of paper. _‘Mika-chan?’_ The boy calls out to memory, but is not familiar with the name. “It sounds like a good workout—you’ll have to tell me about it later though.”

Taking the initiative, Kenji takes his brush and dabbles a few markings onto the paper. He gestures for her to do the same, and she copies exactly what he puts with a slightly sloppier handwriting, the ink being splayed like sprinkles in some other direction. It didn’t have much effect on the jutsu itself, but if she needed to put something there, then she’d have to erase it.

“Here,” he starts, “we’ll just do some basic sealing scrolls and advance from there so I can see how far you are, okay?” She gives him a thumbs up and smiles again. 

For the next thirty minutes, her bright and optimistic personality is so comfortable that he nearly falls off his chair in shock when she randomly pokes him with the end of her brush. So far, she’d drawn around thirty containment seals, with each one getting slightly better than the last, and one basic Barrier Seal. He then had her apply it to his door way and attempted to exit, causing him to slow at the barrier, but not make him stop. 

Despite her failure, her toothy smile and cheery dance says everything to him about how excited she was about it. Apparently, she’d been doing nothing but containment seals and hadn’t known of any other types of fuinjutsu, so she was surprised to see such a variety after reading a small section on one of his books. Because of this, Kenji was certain that she’d want to come by again, and smiles to himself.

Kenji looks at her in confusion when she pokes him, looking at her with a grin. He’s about to say something when she speaks up. “Sorry if I spooked you—just having some trouble understanding this next phrase,” she hides her embarrassment by closing her eyes and gesturing to her failed strokes. 

She expects him to tell her how terrible it is, and how badly she messed up her seal. So her eyes light up when he puts a hand around her own and guides her fingers and brush along the paper. He glances at her every here and there as he does it, making sure that she’s paying attention while ignoring the slight red blemishes on her cheeks

“This seal was _really_ good for your second time!” He praises her with a soft tone, “the only problem is that this _Boar_ symbol is actually supposed to be a _Ram_ and _Snake_ combined into one.” 

She gestures for him to continue, and his hands guide her into a few more strokes that wrap around the symbols. 

“And when you do it like _this_ , the chakra that is embedded into the seal then understands that it’s supposed to keep foreign chakra out of it. Honestly, you did really good for your first time, Tenten-san.”

It wasn’t as good as his was, he noted, but not everybody had the intelligence and motivation that he did at this age. Also, coming from a foreign world where winning a game of _UNO™_ was the most exciting thing ever, it wasn’t hard to become so enthralled and attracted to this one’s unbound concepts. Like, who wouldn’t want to cook a slice of bread on your stomach by focusing one's chakra into it? 

Tenten avoids his eyes and tries her best to look at the now finished scroll, flowing her chakra through the core in the center before picking it up. “T-thank you, Kenji-san,” she says sincerely as she places the seal on the wall next to the door. “I never would’ve figured that out on my own,” she chuckles to herself and activates the seal. It glows a hue of red and purple before finishing.

Kenji gives her a look of expectation and reaches a hand towards the empty doorway. When his palm comes into contact with an invisible barrier, he tries forcing it through, and it caves under the pressure. Compared to the last one, though, it was much better.

He tells her this, and she’s thrilled to know just how far she’s come in such a small amount of time; from burning the ink when she added too many modifiers, to being able to store almost his entire chair with ease, she was getting better. To her, either Fuinjutsu was an easy craft to learn, or Kenji was a rather good teacher—she betted on the latter, having come to him for help on her strokes too many times to count.

“Here, I’ll show you a trick I learned.” Bringing his hands to the new seal that she had just created, his fingertips brighten with chakra. When his fingers make contact with the seal that she had just created, he creates an almost wire-like stream of solid ink and connects it to the other seal that was just across from it. As he connects his finger to the other seal, the ink solidifies before disappearing into thin air—both seals shine a bright red and purple light as they set into stone.

“When you connect them like this, it doubles their strength,” he explains. “I’ll have to show you how to use the _Nagareru Inku Technique_ , though.”

Tenten stands from her seat and puts her hand in the doorway, realizing that she can’t break through the invisible barrier. Kenji prompts her to put more force into, so she raises her fist and punches it. Her hand cocks back when it’s repelled—”wow! It’s so much stronger! You gotta teach me that!”


	3. Genjutsu: Sakura Flower

Before he knew it, an entire week had passed, and he and Tenten had become well-known throughout their classroom; they’d always accidentally attract others’ attention by almost constantly practicing their Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu between classes, skipping recess from time to time. Much to her friends, Mika, distaste, she insisted on either staying indoors to practice her Containments Seals with Kenji, or help him throw and use Kunai in the side-yard training end.

The major reason for their sudden spark of popularity was because of their appearances with the popular Uchiha in the training yard—they were recognized as delinquents by Sasuke’s fan-base when they noticed how Tenten was doing  _ much _ better than the former. Not only that, but Kenji, who used to never be able to hit the board, was now hitting the white marks around the edges with relative ease.

They’d only gotten to practice during school twice, but outside of school, they’d met up around three times in a row. And, when he couldn’t visit her, he used the two kunai and shuriken that she gifted him in his own free time. It were times like these where he really started considering going up to one of the local Junin and asking them about the  _ Shadow Clone Jutsu _ : Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and a small handful of other Shinobi that he knew from the series that could use it.

In the end, by Monday, he agreed with himself that he would try and obtain it. He knows that they would either deny him by telling him that it’s too dangerous, or ask him why, and he didn’t want to suffer either of those possibilities, but he knows that it’s the only way. Surely he could bribe one of them with something, though. That, he was for certain.

However, that discussion was postponed for later. He looks down at the girl in front of him, her pink hair swaying back and forth as she stares at an empty chair just across from her. It was Sasuke's chair, and she had come much too early to class today—for the last week that he’d been here, she was usually the one that came right on the dot.

_ “Hello… your name is Haruno Sakura, am I correct?” _ He asks her from her side, looking down at her innocently. 

She points at herself for a second, realizing that he’s talking to her. “Uh, yes, I’m Haruno Sakura,” she says in full, tilting her head at him. “You’re  _ Sengeru Kenji _ , right?”

_ “Yes, I am!” _ He’s happy to know that she already knows who he is, but he doubts that it’s for the right reasons. Despite that, he continues, making sure that she’s looking in his eyes as he speaks.  _ “Sorry to be a bother, but would it be okay if we talked about something for a second? Just until class starts, it’s not that important.” _

Her expression goes through a lapsing series of confusion, curiosity, and finally acceptance when pulls the empty chair next to her back. Kenji sits in the chair offered to him and looks deep into her irises. “So? What’s up?” The pink haired girl begins, “you had a question?”

“Yes—um, if it’s alright with you,” he uses his hands to gesture a few seals for a Genjutsu that they were learning in class, and Sakura peers down at them curiously. “I was going over some basic genjutsu in a book that I read, and, well, I have a pretty big Chakra pool,” he points towards his core as he explains further, “so it’s a lot more difficult for me to use. I heard from Iruka-sensei that I should ask you about it since you have the best understanding over it.”

Sakura tilts her head even further and puts a finger to her chin. “You want me to… teach you?” She asks seriously. When he nods, she comically waves her hands in denial and looks away from him, not wanting to see his disappointment. “I-I don’t think I can,” her voice falters when a new hurdle of students make their way into the classroom, “I’m gonna be busy later, and—”

_ “What if I made you an offer?” _ Kenji suddenly pipes up, half knowing that he’d have to pull out his  _ ‘Sakura’  _ trump card. Sakura turns back to him and lowers her hands, staring at him curiously. 

_ ‘An… offer?’  _ She thinks to herself before saying it out loud. “What kind of offer?”

The boy in front of her folds his legs and puts his hands on his lap, displaying to her the kind of position that a boss would make before making a business deal.  _ “I’ll tell you Sauke’s secret,” _ he replies firmly, not taking his eyes off of hers for even a moment.

“S-Sasuke-kun’s secret?” She questions, scooting forward in her chair, “w-what do you mean?”

_ “Like what he finds attractive in a girl—or what his goals are… his favorite food,” _ Kenji explains, only stopping when Sakura finally gets the idea and secumbs to his prompting.

Scanning him entirely, she frowns. “How can I trust you?”

_ “You can’t, but is that a risk that you’re really going to take? Just so you can watch Sasuke from afar in your free-time when you might be able to win him over?” _

* * *

Just like that, in the snap of his fingers, Sakura was instantly part of his  _ ‘friend’ _ group. Shortly after convincing, bribing, her to join him after school to help him train with his chakra control, which had already increased greatly since he started, he and Tenten found themselves with another companion. 

At first, Tenten was curious as to why she would be joining them, but was quickly acquainted with the pink-haired girl during their recess break, lunch break, and the walk to Kenji’s home. She’d give the girl a solid seven-out-of-ten in terms of personality, but she also had a quick temper that was intolerable to her; they watched her go psycho-nuts on Naruto when he simply said ‘hi’ to her.

It was displeasing for both Tenten and Kenji to watch, but accepted that they couldn’t do anything about it. Tenten didn’t want to get involved, and Kenji didn’t want to lose his new acquaintance so quickly. 

When they arrived at Kenji’s doorway to his home, just like the first time he had brought Tenten over, his parents were psyched up to hear another unfamiliar voice by his side.

“Why do you like  _ Sasuke-kun  _ anyway, Sakura-san?” Tenten asks, sneering at the Uchiha’s name. 

Sakura gets offended by her tone upon the boy's name and furrows her brows in frustration. “You will not speak badly of Sasuke-kun, Tenten!” She remarks angrily. Her tone quiets down as she puts both of her hands together in a dreamy pose, “as for why I  _ love him _ , he’s the hottest, coolest, and most bad-ass person in the whole world!”

Akira looks over the counters from the kitchen in surprise at the new feminine voice, while Kimaru lifts himself from the couch to watch two girls and his son enter their home. They appear to be engaged in conversation, so they quietly sit in wait for them to finish.

“You’re hopeless, Sakura-san,” Tenten groans, letting a soft chuckle out at the end of her sentence. She liked the girls vigor and dedication, but it was done all the wrong ways. 

Kenji simply laughs from behind them, before tapping Sakura’s shoulder and putting his stuff against the wall. “You’ll need that kind of attitude when I tell you his secret, Sakura-san, so you’re already one-tenths of the way there.”

The girl in question lights up at his words, feeling like the world had just swung in her direction. Still, though, she was uncertain if her new  _ ‘friend’ _ was actually telling her the truth about Sasuke. In the end it wouldn’t matter, she guessed. Even if it was a lie… she might just get some new friends out of the process.

Memories of being rejected by other students when she was younger flashed through her mind, making her go into a standstill. The things that everyone, even Ino, said about her behind her back repeated itself over and over again: her big forehead, being a nerd, trying to become a kunoichi even though she was a  _ civilian— _

”Sakura-san? Are you okay?” Kenji asks comfortingly, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. The second he noticed her distress, his instincts as the caring person he once used to be coming to light at seeing her features. 

In one swift motion, she moves her head up and smiles at her two classmates. “Y-yeah, I was just thinking about something I forgot at school. It’s fine, though… I can get it tomorrow.”

Right on time, the parents make themselves known, accidentally spooking the team of three with their  _ Hidden Parents Jutsu _ . Okay, maybe it wasn’t a jutsu, but they were pretty good at blending in with the furniture. There were only two times where Tenten and Kenji expected their presence.

“Another friend, Kenji?” His mother gushes, running up to them and staring at the newer, smaller girl. She was just an inch shorter than Tenten, who was just one inch shorter than their son. “My, I  _ love _ your hair!” She continues to examine the pink-haired, future kunoichi. The taller woman gasps in realization, “are you Mebuki’s daughter, by any chance? Sakura?”

“That’s me,” Sakura nods, but her tone is dull as if that was the worst case scenario. Her expression brightens a little at the woman's previous compliment. “I try my best to wash it as best to my ability, thank you.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy your stay—if you need anything, my husband and I will be right here,” Kenji’s mother pauses for a moment and takes off her cooking gloves, “will you be joining us for dinner? We’ll be gone later to attend a perent-meeting conference, so we’re going to eat a little early before we have to go.”

Sakura is about to decline the offer when Kenji takes the initiative, “Sakura-san’s gonna stay a while, so she’ll need something to eat for the training we’re about to have.” He gives Sakura an innocent and curious glare, “right?”

She reluctantly nods, mentally cursing the boy in front of her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t say no to him when he said it like that, eye’s and all picking at her soul with the way the flecks inside them sparkled about like the starry night sky.  _ ‘DAMN YOU, KENJI-SAN!’ _ The monster inside her head screams furiously,  _ ‘I’LL BEAT YOU TO A PULP NEXT TIME YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN! SHANNARO!’ _

* * *

Making their way to his room, Tenten and Kenji walk through the doorway—Sakura, however, is held back by an invisible force in front of her. She rummages her hand across the invisible wall before her brow lifts in anger, now staring at the two classmates in front of her. They’d been laughing at her fruitless attempts to get through the barrier before finally dropping it.

“What’s the big idea!?” She shouts at them, just quiet enough to where his parents couldn’t hear. Kenji, unlike the last three times that Tenten had visited, kept the door open again and tore off the seals by his door. He and Tenten, hopefully with Sakura in the mix, would be crafting some new one today anyway for practice; with the way that their green-eyed companion beat the tar out of the barrier, they’d have to repair it regardless.

That wasn’t to say that the barrier wasn’t strong. In fact, with both his and Tentens’  _ Barrier Seals _ combined, they were confident enough to say that even Iruka-sensei would have to hit it with half-seriousness to take it down. And, not to Tenten’s knowledge, if Kenji used his own seals, then it would surely take a fully fledged, up-close  _ Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu _ to break into. Because of this, was already on the verge of unlocking a B-ranked  _ Barrier Seal Jutsu _ , with Tenten only able to produce D-ranked—the only difference between their progress was that Kenji was able to continuously provide the seals with chakra without cutting off the ties. 

_ Fuinjutsu _ _ is known to rely on mostly one's own chakra capacity and chakra control. This is because when a seal is made, either on the spot or given time to craft, one needs to give a seal a constant and steady flow of chakra; better control results in faster seal creation and activation, while the chakra capacity gives increased results to jutsu’s and techniques such as the  _ _ Barrier Seal _ _ , and  _ _ Tetsu no Kusari Seal _ . 

_When these two factors are combined, this allows the practitioner to heave immense balance. For as long as the sealer gives a well controlled channel of chakra, no matter the speed, while also applying a large capacity of it into the seal at the same time, the art of_ _Fuinjutsu_ _becomes unmatched, and one of the most unpredictable Jutsu’s in the world. To learn of some defensive, medical, strategic, and offensive techniques, refer to pg. 500 for more information._

Sitting on the ground, several minutes after Sakura properly scolds both Tenten and Kenji for locking her outside the room, she guides her finger against the latters bare back. 

_ “What’s this for again?” _ The shirt-naked boy asks Sakura, feeling her fingers run along his limbs and down to the center of his back. 

She groans as she’s forced to restart, beginning at the center of his back again and huffs. “I’m trying to teach you how to truly  _ coordinate _ your chakra—you said that you know it’s there, and that you can feel it, so I know that you’ve already done all the basic exercises,” she explains to him in a sassy voice. “This is an  _ intermediate _ exercise for people who are wanting to start Genjutsu training… but, it’s going to be a little harder for you since your chakra is bigger than others. Just focus on where you feel my finger and try to move your chakra towards it.”

As he does this, he closes his eyes and focuses on the feeling of her fingernail. The sensation is actually… pretty nice, he thinks. His chakra follows behind the tips of her finger, trying to force his current to slow down, and Sakura notices his tension by the flexing of his back muscles. Her finger lifts from his back and Kenji lets the Chakra flow through him like normal.

_ “You didn’t even get past the first step,” _ she mumbled in concern.  _ “I knew you said you said you had a lot of chakra, but I didn’t know it would be this much… here, we’ll just keep going until you can, alright? But tell me when it hurts, I don’t want to ruin your pathways.” _

They try again, and Kenji is side-tracked by the gentleness of her finger again. Goosebumps riddle his back and he loses the sensation of his chakra, making his back muscles tense again. He turns his head towards her and giggles, “that tickles, Sakura-san. Maybe try pushing harder?”

_ “Oh, stop being a baby!” _ She pouts, but does as he requested anyway. This time, he’s able to keep up for a few more seconds until his chakra drops back down to the core.  _ “That’s a little better… but we’ll have to make it across your entire back before we can get to step two. This could take all day…” _

“Don’t worry, Sakura-san,” Tenten comforts their new companion from Kenji’s desk, practicing some new strokes that she’d read from one of his books that he let her read. The kenjutsu specialist then swivels in her chair, goggling down at them from her heightened position with glee. “I’ll be staying with Kenji-kun until I get this  _ Containment Seal _ modification done, but that’ll take all day, too, so you’ve got me until then as well!” She sticks out her tongue and puts a finger to her eye, taunting the other girl.

_ “Why did I ever agree to this…” _ she audibly mutters, causing both Kenji and Tenten to laugh at her misfortunes. 

She’s suddenly given a reason to smile, howbeit, when Kenji bows his head at and replies,  _ “because you’re a kind and caring person, Sakura-san. Even when you fond over ‘Sasuke-kun’, I know you only want what's good for him. Anyone would be lucky to someone like you as their friend.” _

* * *

How he saw right through her mask and tore down her shell, she’d never know. Sakura had been thinking over Kenji’s words, smiling happily at the compliments she was given, as she stared at the food right in front of her. All of them had been called to the dinner table to eat just shortly after their first break from training, but Sakura found it difficult to focus on what was in front of her. 

Her mind was repeating again and again every small praise and compliment that both Kenji and Tenten had given her through the past forty minutes. Every time that the words drifted through her internal ears, she felt more relieved than the last—it got to the point where she couldn’t drop her smile anymore; for the past few years, she’d been complimented by classmates and others for her looks, for the way her hair was so pink and pretty—she’d quickly become desperate for their affection after being downtrodden at how much the other kids at school looked down on her.

_ ‘Ugly personality,’ _ they would say,  _ ‘but she has really nice hair, and a pretty face,’ _ they would whisper to each other… so to be told that she’s kind and caring… to be told that she’s helping and that she’s gentle? Her heart craves the affection, and she hates that she likes it so much. She hates that she  _ wants _ to come over again in fear that they might reject her at some point.

_ “Sakura-san,” _ Kenji stares at her in confusion, looking down at the plate that sat in front of her.  _ “Are you… not hungry? Is it not good?” _

Sakura raises her head as if she’d been thrown through several dimensions and cocks her head to her right, clapping her hands together. “I-I’m just thinking about something, sorry,” she grabs the metal fork and digs into the meat that Akira had prepared for them. She hums in delight as she forces the food down her throat. “It’s really good, Akira-san! Thanks for making it,” she bows her head slightly.

When she feels the right side of her get gently pulled away, she turns to look at Kenji dubiously, only to notice that he’s caught her hair from colliding with her plate. 

_ “You should be more careful, Sakura-san,”  _ he smiles at her, still holding onto the strands,  _ “you don’t want your hair to get dirty, right?” _ He asks with a snicker, some food still lingering in his mouth. She shakes her head and backs away from the table, thanking him for saving her from having to wash out the chicken alfredo.

Several more minutes pass until Akira and Kimaru clean off their plates and say goodbye to their son and his two friends, stating that they’d be back in a few hours after the meeting. Sakura and Tenten nod while Kenji simply waves them through the door, moments before shutting it behind them. He realizes that, in the small amount of time that he looked outside, the clouds have completely blocked out the sun for several miles out. 

The darkness begins to roll over the village, and Kenji can feel himself be wrought through time, back to a time when he was younger. Actually, he was probably around seven when it happened—he’d only seen the clouds do this once before, and that particular memory comes crashing into him like a tsunami. 

Unlike most of the memories that were bad, this one was one of the few nice and comfy ones. A time where he, his parents, and a few of his cousins went out boating when a sudden storm came out of nowhere. At that moment, they were too far out into the massive body of water that stretched for miles to return to the dock, so they had to crash their boats and jet skis into a nearby island. 

They had a cruise boat back then—it was around two meters tall and 10 meters long with enough seats to fit his family of six and several more. He could remember the feeling of the wind and sun on his face just hours before, the wetness of his seat underneath him, and the way he’d be flung into the air several inches whenever they hit some bumpy waves.

Shortly after they had to emergency park on one of the resident islands, they made a small shelter to keep them from getting sick by using a large, deflated tube. They held it up with some sticks as protection from the rain. His memory ends at the uncomfortable feeling of sand that had gotten shoved into his clothes and under his swimming vest, but he can also recall the warm, cozy feeling of being surrounded by his family and kept in the middle.

_ ‘Back when I still loved them,’ _ a tiny, potent tear falls from his left eye and runs to his mouth. Tenten, having been watching him curiously from afar, instantly notices and runs up to him. She puts a hand on his arm to get his attention. He wipes away the tears around his eye before putting on his normal smile, forgetting about what he was thinking of.

_ “Oh, sorry Ten-chan,” _ said girl blushes a little at the nickname,  _ “is Sakura-san done cleaning her dish yet?” _

“Ah… well, she finished quite a bit ago… I think she’s resting on the couch,” the kenjutsu artist points out, gesturing at the girl's prone position on the cushions, listening to something on the old-fashioned radio that sits on the coffee table. He walks over to the couch and takes a seat next to the pink-haired girl, looking down at her back begrudgingly; back in his world, he always found delight in making people feel better. This especially applied to somebody who helped him get and do the things he wanted.

For example, he’d always tickle or massage his sisters' backs as a ‘thank you’ for buying him something to eat, or just because he knew that they were stressed and worked all day. That’s the feeling that Sakura gives him, he realizes, staring at her tired and exhausted form. She’d been working so hard to help him, even if it was for Sasuke’s secret. He decides that she's done enough.

_ “You know, Sakura-san, I’d be convinced to say that you’re almost too comfy,” _ he taunts, but she only grumbles a weak response. She always got tired after eating, given why she usually skipped out on lunch from time to time and scoffed it off as dieting.

Sakura turns her head around to find Kenji and Tenten sitting by her legs, both of them looking down at her from their slightly taller positions. She’s about to complain about being too tired to do anything when Kenji suddenly speaks up. 

_ “Tenten,” _ he starts,  _ “go ahead and grab some scrolls from my desk—we’ll continue our practice here instead since Sakura-san is tired… don’t bring the brushes! Try and use that technique I showed you. It’ll be useful one day when you run out.” _

Sakura gives him a confused expression from the end of the couch, wondering why he cared so much. “I still have to teach you,” she says quietly and tries to lift herself up, “s-so I can learn Sasuke-kun’s secret?”

Kenji, to her surprise, lowers her back onto the couch. He liked how calm she was when she was sleepy, so he smiles in extreme delight in knowing that she wouldn’t freak out. At best, she probably didn’t expect anything  _ ‘absurd’ _ from him after having a long discussion with Tenten about how they hated perverts earlier that day during recess. Kenji shared the thought, which only brought her, if any, a bit more comfort.

_ “It’s fine, Sakura-san,” _ he quickly pats her back assuringly,  _ “we can always continue tomorrow. And you look like you’re about to faint, so I can’t let you get up.” _

The girl grumbles something under her breath about  _ ‘Kenji’ _ and  _ ‘stupid Shannaro’ _ , but all the boy can do is chuckle at the way she slowly drifts off; throwing a soft, red blanket over her body is all it takes to make her pass out.


	4. Ninjutsu: A Ninja Jutsu

Another week has passed, and Haruno Sakura officially becomes acquainted with Kenji and Tenten. She hasn’t said anything about her feelings, or about her past, but she feels welcome to their personalities and, most of all, she feels included when they’re around. No matter how much she tries to make them forget that she’s there, or tries to tell them that there’s somebody else who could help them, they kept coming back to her. Even when she told Kenji that she didn’t want  _ ‘Sasuke-kuns’ _ secret anymore; they wanted her company.

All her life she’d been an underdog that didn’t know her place amongst the pack—she always followed the rules to the dot while everyone else didn’t, she’d be the one that finished the group projects while the others sleazed around and did nothing. Not even thank her when she was finished. But Kenji and Tenten were constantly there to parade her with compliments and push her to do her best alongside them. The best part about it was that neither of them whispered to each other, nor left her side—never did they talk behind her back.

It was easier than she thought it would be to start feeling accepted again. The comfort of Kenji’s presence, the constant stream of excitement that Tenten would radiate, it all made her want this to be permanent. And, even though she still wanted Sasuke-kun all to herself, there was no way that she was going to pass up on having these two, wonderful friends. He could wait.

Here, in their company, she smiles happily, kicking her legs under the table as she digs into her dinner. She was hesitant about eating something that she’s never had before, especially since it was an  _ original _ recipe by Kenji, but the  _ ‘FriedChicken-SuperCrust™’  _ had to be her newest favorite food item in the world. The way the crust around it would shrivel and crack under her teeth before colliding into the moist, soft chicken within, she fell in love with the amalgamation of unfamiliar tastes.

The barbeque store was  _ nowhere _ as good as this, and she wondered where exactly Kenji got the ingredients. She made them all laugh a few minutes into dinner when she had taken her first bite and disapprovingly shook her head, shouting  _ ‘kai!’ _ in order to release the genjutsu that she’d been teaching them. Kenji told her that it wasn’t an illusion, and she instantly turned bright pink. They laughed for several minutes after that, happier than before that they had decided to bring Sakura into their party.

No matter what they did, Sakura didn’t know if she’d ever be able to return to the way she was before.  _ Lonely. _

“Oh, yeah!” Kenji shouts to himself. He looks up from his empty plate and wipes a hand against his lips as he jumps from his chair and dashes to the kitchen. “Sorry, guys,” he starts, “but I almost forgot that I’ve got somewhere to be right about now.”

The two girls glance at him, looking up from their half-filled plates—it was obvious that the boy  _ loved _ his own cooking if the way he gobbled it down in an instant was any indication. 

Tenten leans from her seat but doesn’t stand, adorning the most concerned look between the two friends. “You’re leaving?” She asks, almost sad, “b-but, I just got down that seal that you wanted me to finish yesterday. I wanted to show you—”

The  _ older _ girl is stopped by Kenji when he flings on his jacket by the wall and gives her a confident smile. “I know it’s gonna be great no matter what,” she perks up at his comment and shuffles slightly. 

“You can show me tomorrow if you leave soon—if not, I’ll be back much later tonight, but I’m assuming neither of your parents would be thrilled to hear that you stayed the night at a boy’s house.” He teases, sticking out his tongue, and both of them brighten like a flare. Sakura tries to throw her fork at him, but it’s reflected by one of Kenji’s kunai before it can hit him.

Even if the fork was practically the least lethal weapon in the room, he felt great pride in using Tentens’ teaching. “See you later!” He shouts. As the door shuts behind him, he lifts his hoodie over his head and puts his fingers in the  _ Ram _ seal. After getting some distance from his home and entering a nearby alleyway, he uses his very own  _ Perfect Transformation Seal _ to turn into somebody else.

He had a long day ahead of him.

* * *

Walking down the street, he runs into slight trouble with getting through the crowd. Konoha was absolutely relentless when it came to mid-day shoppers, and this especially applied to the active shinobi and kunoichi coming back from missions. He actually had to apologize to a few for bumping into them, and they would just ward it off— _ just a female civilian in a hurry to get some milk. _

Kenji had successfully transformed into a bob-cut brown-haired, plump woman of around five-foot two. Her hips are round, waist is small, eyes are blue, small nose, and c-cup breasts to accompany her shorter figure. The boy had spent several days making sure that he got everything perfect: from the way that the transformation comes into contact with other object by sending a stream of chakra to the point of surface, to the weight of the breasts and softness of the lips. Given the name, ‘ _ Perfect Transformation Seal _ ’, which requires a certain kind of fuinjutsu to keep up the appearance without actually using chakra.

When Kenji stops, he realizes that he’s finally found his first victim; she’s a tall kunoichi with onyx-black hair, demon-red eyes, and wears the ninja headband around her forehead. Her arms have bandages that reach down to her wrists, and a long strap of strange paper around her torso and legs that act like a pair of clothing. He identifies her as Kurenai, one of the genin senseis in the future.

She stands by an outside restaurant, holding a small plate in her hands and eating the stack of dango’s that she ordered not too long ago, along with her friend, Anko. Seeing as she’s turned around from the amassing populace behind her, Kenji makes his way towards her, a seal in his right hand and an immense downpour of sweat beneath his transformation.

Moving to his left, pretending like  _ she  _ was just pushed out of the bustling crowds, she collides with Kurenai and slips her hand under the white sheet-like clothing, attaching the seal entirely. For a moment, Kenji thinks that she’s noticed, but her confused and slightly annoyed expression says otherwise.

“I-I’m so sorry!” The strangely-pitched woman apologizes, bowing her head with a forced blush. “I was on my way to get some groceries when somebody tripped me—d-did I make you drop your food? I can pay you if I—”

Kurenai gives the woman a light smile and waves her free hand. “No,” she responds with a chuckle, “it’s alright.” 

The  _ woman _ bows her head again as a second apology and attempts to make her way off, only to be caught by Kurenai’s hand. Kenji can feel her pour some chakra into his  _ Transformation Jutsu _ , but it’s repelled when his seal activates and pushes it away, back into Kurenai’s hand and protecting the jutsu. It was common knowledge that putting just an ounce of one’s own chakra into somebody, if they were transformed, would instantly erase their illusion. It was only natural that Kurenai, a master of illusion, would notice a discrepancy.

The red-eyed kunoichi hums in thought and lets go of Kenji’s arm, looking at him suspiciously. “Oh, sorry about that,” she apologizes, “I just thought you were somebody else. Well, you better get going, since I hear that milk and eggs are running low this month.”

Kenji nods his head at her and runs off, a great big grin appearing on his face when he realizes that he’s just succeeded in something that he’s been planning for the past few days. Back in his original life, he  _ loved _ a challenge, so completing one that was so dangerous with such ease almost felt Godly. However he wouldn’t let his guard down yet, as he still had several more things he needed to do today.

* * *

His last few ‘tasks’ that he had to complete were rather easy. At this point, he was running purely off of adrenaline and had plenty of energy to go around. He knew that he’d need it for finding the last person that he needed to talk to: Kakashi. The genin instructor of Team 7 once the Academy came to a close, but that was still quite some time away.

He’d been searching for this man for hours; one of the reasons he told Tenten and Sakura that he’d be back much later that night was because he knew just how hard it would be to find the shinobi. And that was if he was even in Konohagakure at the time, given his high-ranking status, he probably went on high-ranking missions every other day. He was lucky enough to even find him today, given that his last two searches came out empty.

Before he approaches the man, he quickly disables the seal around his forehead and wipes away the markings with a towel, ending the  Perfect Transformation Technique that he created. Looking at his surroundings, he notices that they’re alone, just outside the Hokage’s main office building by the small training yard in the front. 

The white haired shinobi lifts his head from his  _ Hugging Tactics _ book and gives the smaller boy an eye smile. He gives him a wave, expecting Kenji to walk off, and that he was just a curious kid, when he walks up to him and bows his head. 

“You are… Kakashi Hatake, right?” He asks firmly, raising his head. Kakashi opens his single eye again and peers down at the smaller, pink and purple eyed student. Nodding, Kenji takes a step back and closes his eyes respectively, “will you teach me a jutsu I heard about, Kakashi-san? I promise that I won’t take up much of your time—I just don’t know anybody else who knows or uses it but you.” That last part was a half-lie.

The jōnin raises a curious eye at him and puts his book in his pouch, fully aware of the kid standing in front of him. “What exactly is it you were wanting to learn?” He asks with a high-pitch.

Kenji shuffles his legs and taps the ground his his right foot before saying, “ _ Shadow Clone Jutsu _ ?” He pauses when he see’s Kakashi perk up, probably about to decline. “—I’m pretty sure I can handle it, Kakashi-san! I-I’ve just been having some trouble with making a small amount of clones due to my chakra pool being so large.” 

For example, his was just around the size of a low level jōnin, and while he was nowhere near Naruto’s immense level of chakra, passed down by the Uzumaki clan and the Kyubi fox, he had a  _ very _ paranormal chakra recovery rate. One that he couldn’t quite explain, as it had very dependent factors that made it impossible to place in a number statistic.

Kakashi hums, “so you’re looking for an alternative, correct?” He asks rhetorically, but Kenji agrees with his statement anyway. “Alright,” the ninja accepts, “but you have to prove to me that you’re able to handle it.”

“What would you like me to do, Kakashi-sensei?” The ‘sensei’ part doesn’t fly over the jōnin’s head, and he stares at his one-time ‘student’.

Pointing from Kenji’s feet to his head, he says, “I want you to show me how many clones you can make. Just the standard ones, nothing special, but make them as sturdy as you can.” 

The kid backs away from Kakashi to make some room for his clones and forms the seals of  _ Ram _ ,  _ Snake _ , and  _ Tiger _ . His chakra takes over the rest, and he pours a comfortable amount of it into the jutsu: eighty clones appear behind him, but he knows that he can make plenty more if given the room. 

Kakishi stares at the small, non-lethal army behind Kenji and smirks, not that anybody would know, and gestures for him to dispel the clones. When he does, there’s a maelstrom of clouds behind his figure. It quickly dissipates in a few seconds. 

Kenji’s new sensei hums and applauds. “Very well done for an Academy student so early into the year… I can tell that you’ve been training on your own time… that reminds me. I never got your name.” Quickly responding, Kenji tells him his name along with how old he is, what his family name is, and where he can be found in the village.

“And, since you told me so much about yourself, and even made an impressive amount of clones…” his hands make the  _ Ram _ seal and two other Kakashi’s appear behind him, “it would only be fair if I kept my end of the deal.”

Two of his shadow clones walk forward while the original steps back and pulls out his book—he was probably going to let his clones teach him while he continued about with whatever he was doing before. Though, this doesn’t displease Kenji in the slightest, rather making him even more excited to learn the technique.

“Alright,  _ Kenji _ , before I teach you the  _ Shadow Clone Technique _ , I need to make sure that you understand the concepts and dangers of this jutsu; it requires a lot of chakra, and it has a lot of useful properties. First, if you ever feel like your chakra isn’t in tip-top shape, then under no circumstances are you to use this jutsu. Is that understood?”

Kenji nods, “I understand, Kakashi-sensei. I also know that the  _ Shadow Clone Technique _ gives information back to the one who creates them, and that they are specifically designed for spying and intel gathering.”

“That’s a very good start, actually, so I’ll just skip to the hand-signs and tell you where to flow your chakra. It shouldn’t take too long to learn—I’ll have you know that I learned this technique when I was only six!”

His words give the boy hope, but he already knew that. He’d watched some clips online with Minato and Kakashi fighting, and the latter using the standard shadow clone jutsu in their battle. He also knew that this process wouldn’t take as long as Naruto did when he learned the  _ Tajuage Kage Bushin no Jutsu _ , which was a very different cloning style from the regular version. The  _ Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu _ was the forbidden one.

That being said, he and his temporary sensei continued to train. After around fifteen minutes, having tried to and failed to create about thirty clones so far, he took a rest and looked over the notes that he’d been writing over the technique in case Kakashi decided to leave. 

Looking over at his handwriting, along with the way he flicked his brush against the paper, Kakashi instantly caught on. “Hey,” he begins, “I noticed the way you add a slip at the end of your I’s. Could it be that you know Fūinjutsu?” 

Kenji turns to him but doesn’t stop scribbling. “Actually, yes… but I only started a month or so ago, so I don’t know anything too complicated. Uh, I actually made my own seal just the other day! It just needs the kinks worked out.”

Kakashi notes his excitement. “You must be a natural, then,” he pulls out his own scroll of paper and brush from his pouch, “if you’d like, I might just be able to help you learn a thing or two?”

Immediately, he nods his head. There was no way he’d pass up on the opportunity to learn Fūinjutsu techniques from the student of the Fūinjutsu master himself. The Yondaime Hokage. Pulling out a separate wheel of paper from his side that he always carries, he quickly jots down a  _ Barrier Seal _ . Kakashi looks impressed, but take the initiative and adds a few strokes.

“That’s really impressive. You said that you only started a month ago?”

“Something like that, probably around two months, but I knew a thing or two before I started. It, uh, really helped me get to where I am now—I even teach some of my friends Fūinjutsu and how to improve their seals as much as I can. One of them just started, but she’s pretty smart on her own.”

“Well, keep at it,” he encourages in a delighted tone. “We need more shinobi and kunoichi with that skill set in the future. I can only name a handful of people in the village that know more than containment seals.” 

The second Kakashi moves forward. His brush runs over the barrier seal and makes three, concentric dots. “Ah, if you add three dots like this, just around the top, it will reflect genjutsu from passing through it depending on its strength. The more chakra you pour into the three dots, or if you find some other way to modify them, will depend on how strong of a genjutsu that it can deflect.”

They continue to work on the boys' seals until they’re as perfect as Kenji can make them. Once he laces the ink with chakra, the seal lights up in confirmation that it’s working, and Kenji bows his head with a  _ ‘thank you’ _ right behind it.

He also jumps to his feet shortly afterward. “I think I’m good now—I thought of a few theories that might help me make my shadow clones.”

Kakashi stares at his temporary student and joins him on his feet. “Are you sure that you have enough chakra?”

“Oh, I don’t think I told you about my kekkei genkai.”

“You have a Kekkei Genkai?”

* * *

After telling Kakashi about his kekkei genkai, he swiftly learned how to make his first shadow clone. At first, he thought that he wasn’t putting enough chakra into it due to remembering how Naruto used so much of it, but learned from his theories that he was actually putting in  _ too much _ for just one clone. He overestimated how much chakra just one clone needed in order to be made, but that worked highly in his favor.

When the two Kakashi clones dispel, the original sits up from the tree he was resting on and approaches the boy. He’d completely destroyed his own record when he first learned the jutsu. Back when he was six, he could only make about seven at a time from all his chakra training, and it took him fifty minutes to learn the technique.

Kenji learned it in thirty-seven.

“Wow, you actually got it done within the hour,” he praises the kid, “impressive… but you’re going to need to master it before you can say use it properly. Go ahead and make as many shadow clones as you can without hurting yourself.”

Kenji looks down at his hands and focuses on the chakra that leaves his body. It’s like a long, chonga-line noodle that extends from his body before it begins building up its own core for the clones to wrap around. Finishing the hand sign and cutting off the chakra flow all at once, exactly twenty-eight shadow clones appear behind him.

Kenji made four times as many clones as he did when he first learned the technique. It was very impressive to the jōnin, and he could tell that Kenji had a very large chakra pool. Even if most of it had derived from his kekkei genkai, making that many shadow clones in such a small amount of time required great chakra control.

The clones disappear in a poof of smoke when Kenji waves his hands.

Kakashi laughs softly and points at the clones. “Amazing!” he praises again, “well done, Kenji-san. You pass with flying colors… but, if we’re done here, I think it’s about time that we part ways. Good job on learning a high ranking jutsu.”

“Of course! Thank you, Kakashi-sensei, and I hope we run into each other again. I was hoping to learn another technique from you, but you taught me a pretty good one already. Uh, I’ll catch you some other time, yeah?”

The jōnin looks up as if thinking it over. He gives a mischievous chuckle and puts a hand over where his mouth would be, “that’s if you can find me. And the next time we meet, I’d like to hear about this new Fūinjutsu seal that you talked about. It’s not every day that someone makes an original.”

“That’s If you can find me,” he whips back, and Kakashi is somehow proud. A gust of leaves take him by storm and he vanishes out of thin air, using the very jutsu that Kenji wanted to learn next. 

Turning around, Kenji quickly makes his way back home, thinking of all the cool things he could do with his very first, genuine Ninjutsu. Much unlike the people who used the technique for either fighting or spy work, he was going to use his in a particularly different way. He knew that he’d retain the memories that his clones gathered as a hive mind, so he’d use them to study over as many subjects as possible. Just one clone would be enough to help him greatly, so being open to around fifty when he’s full on gas? 

Still, though, this didn’t mean that he’d become a God in a nightfall. If his math was correct, then he was allowed some  _ lazy days _ . Just last Friday was a prime example of that—bringing Sakura and Tenten over to his house without any training. In all, he was making a fine relationship in what were considered the weakest side-characters… he’d rectify that claim and turn them into some of the finest kunoichi.

That wasn’t his plan, originally, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say that they didn’t have potential. Had Sakura actually studied some  _ real _ genjutsu and put the work into it, she'd be on her way to Kurenai’s level in just a few years. The same applied to Tenten, but all she lacked was variety in jutsu and technique, as well as speed. This was a flaw that Kenji was already beating out of her with various seals and theoretical tactics.

His shadow clones also provided him with a safe method to train his kenjutsu and fighting style. He hardly knew how to throw a punch in his past life, so he’d focus on his physical and cognitive responses to such fighting. For a future project, if it’s even possible, he’ll teach Sakura and Tenten the shadow clone technique if they wish to learn it. Other than that, until they’re able to, he’s going to have them fight his clones in 1v1 matches.

Tenten was much better than him in combat, and Sakura was below even himself in terms of fighting. Albeit, Sakura had a very good idea on how to throw shuriken and kunai without teaching from the kenjutsu user of the group.

Standing in front of his door, Kenji slowly opens the wooden mechanization.  _ ‘I can’t wait to show them what I learned today,’  _ he thinks, entering the house. He’s surprised to see Tenten on the couch, completely knocked out with a dripping brush in her hand. 

_ ‘That’s odd. She should’ve left hours ago… it’s already dark out.’ _

He quietly hums in thought and places his stuff against the wall. He looks around for Sakura, but her bag is gone, meaning that she left some time ago. Walking into the kitchen, he grabs a paper towel and a bottle for cleaning. The mess the girl made on the wooden flooring wasn’t bad, but it took a few squirts and a bit of pushing to prevent a stain… he chuckles.

Her form is spread sloppily against the arms of the sofa, hands, and legs twisted in every direction, and one of her buns has come undone; her nose is scrunched up, lips are practically wide open, and the funniest part? She’s snoring. It’s quiet, and soft, and one of the cutest things he’s ever heard. 

_ ‘I think I should wake her up,’ _ he ponders,  _ ‘after I clean her mess.” _ He stands up and removes the scrolls that litter the table, as well as gently sliding the brush from her hands into his own. He even reviews the seals and nods at her improvements. Better strokes, creative modifications, and a lot less sprinkles of ink scattered about.

Figuring that he might never get the chance again in the near future, Kenji swiftly grabs a photo-camera from his mother’s nightstand. He recognizes it as an old-fashioned polaroid with the flashing feature. Turning off the flash, he takes her photo: a small, knocked out Tenten with drool running down the side of her mouth. It’s cute, and he shakes the photo a few times before putting it in his pocket and stashing the polaroid back where he found it.

_ “Ten-chan…” _ he whispers in her ear, trying to wake her up. She flutters slightly and moves her head. Her eyes stay closed. An idea comes to mind and he whispers,  _ “you know, Ten-chan… if you don’t wake up soon, I’m gonna hide your favorite kunai in one of my seals—” _

“D-don’t do that!” She wakes up and freaks out, slamming her head against Kenji’s. They both put a hand over their foreheads, and though the pain isn’t bad, Tenten hisses slightly.

_ “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” _ Kenji jokes, hoping to make her flush a little. She does, her cheeks turning red when she notices how her hair is dangled in front of her left eye, and Kenji swears that he can hear her curse.

He softly grabs her hand before she put her hair back into a bun.  _ “I think it’s much cuter like this,” _ he continues to tease,  _ “and don’t worry, I won’t take your favorite kunai. I know how much it means to you, anyway.” _

She tries to respond but can only squeak at his comment.  _ ‘Nobody’s… said they’ve liked my hair before,’ _ her blush brightens. Smacking herself with both of her hands, she shakes her head,  _ ‘get your mind out of the gutter, Tenten!” _ and leans to a sit.

Her body warms considerably when Kenji wraps her in a soft hug, delicately embedding his fingers into the small of her back. “I was surprised to find you here,” she can feel him smile,  _ “thanks for waiting for me.” _

“U-uh, um, n-no problem,” she squeaks, returning the friendly gesture. “B-but, Sakura-chan was still here when I… when I fell asleep—is she still here?”

“I don’t think so. She wasn’t in the house and her stuff was gone as well,” he cranks his head out of her neck. His arms and hands stay hooked to her back for several moments before letting go. It takes Tenten a second to process that they aren’t hugging anymore and let’s go as well.

“It’s pretty dark out, y’know? I’d like to keep you here for a sleepover, but I don’t think your parents want to find out that you slept at a boy’s house.” Tenten is about to whack him upside the head but he continues, “anyway, I learned this super cool Jutsu! I want to show you and Sakura tomorrow, so make sure your schedule is free.” Concluding his sentence, he helps her to her feet and guides her to the door. Tiredness and exhaustion are written on her face despite the power nap.

“I was really looking forward to showing you my new seal that I made…” she pouts, looking down. Kenji opens the door in front of her and she walks out, not expecting Kenji to follow closely behind. “You’re coming with me?”

“Well, I don’t want you walking home all by yourself at night, Ten-chan,” he replies in a worried tone. He jumps to her side and hits her shoulder with his, prompting her to keep walking. “Besides, you can update me on what you and Sakura-chan did while I was gone.”


	5. Learning Our Jutsus: Together

The next day, Kenji wakes up bright and early. He had purposely set his alarm clock to go off just thirty minutes earlier than normal so he could prepare himself for his latest idea. A certain kind of customary, useful seal that would, theoretically, be as easy to make as drawing a stickman. So, after firmly stopping his alarm clock, he immediately grabbed a pair of clothes from his closet and sat them down on his bed for when he was done making the seal, or if he ran out of time. He highly doubted the latter.

Sitting at his desk, Kenji slips over a piece of fabric from his side and a single brush covered in ink. He thinks about the layout for several minutes before making a perfect rectangle. Inside the rectangle is a condescending decrease in size of several shapes: circle, triangle, star, three connected dots, and six separate lines along the edges to finish it off. The lines around the edges would act as an  _ internal _ barrier, preventing any chakra that’s placed within from leaking out.

To his surprise, when he starts flowing his chakra through the seal, it stays inside, but is only able to hold so much until the ink begins to bloat. He stops his flow of chakra and grins at the sloppy, unrefined creation—a  _ Pawārōpu Seal _ . Roughly translated to ‘power rope’. The second of his very own jutsu, but it was to be expected, as he still had many ideas for the art of Fūinjutsu. He even had a book that was filled with his ideas and had a lock-style barrier seal on it so nobody but himself could get into it.

Taking another sheet of paper, Kenji writes the same code in the exact eccentric pattern as the last and fills it with chakra. He continues this for the next several papers until he knows that he’s down to about half of his reserves. After that, he grabs his clothes and heads to the bathroom for a quick shower. 

Stepping out of the shower, the boy tosses on his newer clothes just before adjusting the circular seal on his stomach. Flowing his chakra into the intricate scribbles, he feels his body become a hundred-thirty pounds heavier; around two times the weight that he initially started with. In his world, such a feat would be impossible, but with the constant replenishment of chakra, his body builds more muscle fibers at a greatly increased rate. This applied to most shinobi and kunoichi, but those who specialized in Taijutsu, like Lee or Guy.

Once he finally slips on his shoes, he raises his hands closes his eyes. The  _ Ram _ symbol is formed, and ten clones of himself appear of of thin air. If he was correct, then the clones would already know what they were supposed to do. All he needed to do now was to categorize them into groups and appoint them to the ten tags of chakra that he created just before.

Group one would consist of three clones that will focus on training their chakra control. Group two would consist of five clones that will work on their kunai and shuriken throwing, as well as the techniques that Tenten wrote down for him to practice on when he could. Finally, group three would consist of the last two clones that will study on both genjutsu and chakra theory as a team, sharing ideas with each other.

His head, along with each and every one of his clones, look at the bathroom door as it opens slowly. “Kenji?” The sound of his mother chimes, “are you dressed, dear? I’m coming… in…”

She raises a finger and her eyes stretch wider than dinner plates. The original and the clones wave at her with a chuckle. “Morning, mom,” they say in unison. 

“Is this… is this a ‘ninja’ thing?” She asks softly, not particularly knowledgeable on that kind of subject. When her  _ sons _ nod, she lets out a small sigh of relief.

“Alright, guys,” the original Kenji announces to the populace behind him, ignoring his shocked mother standing by the door. “Fan out and claim a tag. Each one has a number that you’ll be assigned to at random from a range of one to three. Whatever number you get, you’ll pair up with whoever has the same number as you. Remember to charge yourself every thirty minutes.”

The clones in front of him give him a peace sign and chant, “on it!” Immediately afterwards, they form a line and exit the bathroom with the original exiting last, watching as they walk down the hall, enter his room and grab a tag. Several walk back out and into the backyard, meaning that they’d be the ones training with their accuracy.

“A-are they real?” His mother frets almost comically, “I-I can’t have—”

“It’s okay, mom,” he laughs at her horror, “they’re just… complicated clones of myself. They’ll be staying here doing their own thing, so don’t mind them.”

“What exactly are they for?”

“Well, some of them are for studying, but the others are practicing their accuracy with kenjutsu while I’m at school. But, if you need to tell me something, tell one of the clones. I’ll get their memories when they dispel, so I’ll know about it when they’re gone. They’ll take care of the house until about one.”

Wrapping his arms around Akira, he swiftly let’s go and heads for the front door with a small pouch and notebook wrapped around his waist. It contained various sealing scrolls that he used for school, so he lacked the need for a backpack like most of the students there. The only others that did the same were Tenten, Sakura, and, surprisingly enough, Neji.

* * *

Most of the school day was a repetition of what they learned yesterday, but he was able to catch up on some parts that he missed. He was always bad at lectures and the such, so it was a relief to go over the same genjutsu theories with their third-hour teacher for the second time in a row. In almost all other classes he excelled: Ninjutsu Studies, Shinobi History, Chakra Studies, and only as of late, Accuracy Tests. 

His peers and mentors noticed the change as well. A week ago, he’d only be able to hit the white edges. Now, he was hitting every mark within the black circle in the center. Iruka informed him that while his accuracy has greatly improved, that his speed at which he throws them is too slow and too forced. He mentions that he should practice with fake shuriken and kunai with different weights until he acted on it instinctually.

Nodding in agreement with his sensei, he watches as the next few students bomb the test, with the Uchiha boy absolutely excelling at it. Still, he’s also reprimanded by Iruka who says that he threw them too slow, despite his perfect accuracy. He later explains that their test next week would be on moving targets using dull weapons; some were excited, others groaned in exhaustion. 

Kenji perks up when he finally hears the voices of his two friends standing behind him. Tenten stands to the right, and Sakura to the left, leaving him in the middle. He notices that Tenten is fiddling with the buns on her head but ignores it as nothing important.

_ “We’ve been waiting for you!” _ Sakura yells at him, pouting. Tenten nods in sarcastic agreement, crossing her arms and turning away.

“Oh,” he replies firmly, “sorry about that. I was just kept up with Iruka-sensei to watch the rest of our class take their turns. It’s a good thing I did, though… he wants us to take a test on throwing kunai and stuff at moving targets.”

Tenten smiles, “really? That’s awesome!” She pulls out two sharp pieces of metal from her pockets and swings at the air excitedly, “I’ll finally show that  _ cocky Uchiha  _ how much better I am!”

They now exit the building, and Sakura is about to defend Sasuke’s  _ honor _ before Kenji nudges her arm. “You know, I noticed that you weren’t out there with the other fangirls this time… any particular reason for that?”

Tenten looks her way as well and hums. “Yeah, actually. Matter of fact, you’ve been here longer that I have, too… did you finally fall out of the realization tree, Sakura-chan?” 

The pink-haired girl turns into a living tomato in only a few seconds, a small stream rising from her head in embarrassment, anger or shame, but neither of them could tell the difference. The final nail is wacked in when Kenji puts a hand to his mouth and whispers,  _ “could it be that you just wanted to hangout with your friends?” _

He feels her palms slam against his shoulder as she starts to yell at him.  _ “SHUT UP YOU SHANNARO! NO I DIDN’T!” _

For the next minute and a half, he’s scolded by the second most snobby girl in school, rival to Ino Yamanaka. Albeit the girls fit of rage, he and Tenten welcome her fully until she’s calmed down, to which Tenten starts to tell Sakura about a new seal technique that she came up with during lunch. 

To the boy, it sounded a lot like something that the girl had used somewhere in the show that involved releasing a ton of weaponry on a single target. Given that she had the material to do so, he encouraged her to go home and experiment with it after their group hangout. It didn’t take him long to find out that they enjoyed spending time with him at his house, which was all more of a reason to smile.

Opening the door for them, his companions enter the house and set their stuff down by the wall. They’re greeted by his parents as per usual and make their way to his room, a very apparent smile on Kenji’s face when they enter. 

Sakura notices this and points at his suspicious grin, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “What’s got you so excited, Kenji-kun?” she mumbles audibly, still slightly upset about his  _ very accurate _ remark several minutes ago.  _ Besides… what would if they found out that she wanted to stay like this? What if she tells them that she cares for them and is immediately shut away? _

“Well,” the boy glides with his words, “I just learned a new jutsu that I was wanting to show you guys today! It’s a pretty cool one that I’ve been wanting to learn for a while, but I just had to find someone to teach me it first.”

“Is that why you left so randomly the other day?” Sakura chides, “I was waiting for you to come back so we could finish our training—I had to go home before you got back since it was getting dark.”

Kenji simply nods and bows his head slightly. “Thanks for waiting for me so long,” he raises his head back up, “you would make an awesome teammate if we ever get paired up. You too, Ten-chan.” They blush lightly knowing that their ‘leader’ friend thought so highly of them.

Putting his hands together to form the  _ Ram _ seal, he uses his newly learned Jutsu and fills a vacant slot of air with a single clone. His friends don’t look impressed, with Tenten just scratching her cheek. 

“The cloning technique?” She asks as if she’s missing something important.

“That’s just the cloning technique, Kenji-Baka…” Sakura shakes her head, “you made me think you were gonna do something cool! Don’t say something so—!”

Her voice cracks into a squeak when the clone walks over to her and sits by her side, looking at her intently. The original Kenji does the same, but instead sits by Tenten. “T-There’s two of you!?” His louder companion raises her voice, “b-but—how’s that possible? There can't be two of you, right?”

“Actually, yeah,” both clone and original state. The original takes the lead, “this is called the  _ Shadow Clone Jutsu _ . It’s a B-Rank clone-style Ninjutsu that was made for fighting and recon missions: when the clones are dispelled or run out of chakra, they remit everything that they learned back to the creator.” He pauses for a moment to observe their expressions, “I can teach you the Jutsu, if you’d like, but it requires a ton of chakra to make just one clone.”

He does the reverse of emphasizing his point by making a bundle of three clones. Tenten gives him a confused look and asks, “just, uh, how hard is it to make one? I-I don’t have a lot of chakra… or really even had any experience in chakra control until Sakura-chan helped us a few weeks ago.”

“I’m certain you’ll be fine, if not sleepy, Ten-chan; my clones will help Sakura-chan learn how to use the Jutsu while I teach you myself,” he reaches for her hand and pulls her out of the chair. “Good luck!” He tells the pink-haired girl, and the clones he left her with grinned.

* * *

_ ‘Maybe I went too hard on them,’ _ he thinks, staring at their crumbled and exhausted forms. He did warn them, though, so perhaps it wasn’t all his fault that they were bum-none out of chakra and on the brink of passing out. Even the two clones that Sakura had just  _ barely _ managed to produce were on their knees. However, it appeared that Tenten was taking it worse than the former and couldn’t gather enough strength to move anything but her facial features. She was so determined to create at least one clone within the hour that she’d completely run herself dry.

Gazing at her flattened form, he walks over to her position and sits behind her head. She looks at him with a failed angry expression. It isn’t directed towards him, rather herself for being, “—so pathetic… I know.”

When she says this, Kenji scoots forwards and lifts her head into his lap. There was one thing that Kenji lacked before he died and was reincarnated, and he really hoped to rectify that flaw of his—being a bad friend. He had many friends in his world, but he was never there for them like a real friend should’ve been. Now, given the opportunity with these ones, he would try his best.

A grin rises on his features as he puts his palms on her scalp and uses his fingers to rub the temples gently. Her hair is rough and crazy, shooting out in every direction when observed as close as he was now. There’s a strange heat developing from her face as he massages the top of her head, but makes no move to try and stop him. If he was right, then this would help her relax and regain some of the chakra that she used up.

“Come on, Ten-chan… you’re anything  _ but _ pathetic,” he lowers his hands and pulls at her cheeks with his fingers, allowing the blood and muscles to release their tension. “You’re one of the hardest working people I’ve met. I was just born with a kekkei genkai,” he points at his eyes, “and Sakura-chan’s been working on her chakra control since she was nine.”

“I know that…” her eyes close entirely, focusing solely on their voices, “but, I just don’t want to keep you guys behind when you could go so much further, and—”

_ “I could never leave a friend behind,” _ he whispers to her, “and I’ll wait for as long as it takes for you to catch up to speed. You didn’t see me complaining when I was hardly able to throw a shuriken—it’s because of  _ you _ that I am where I am.” 

“T-that was nothing… it’s just throwing pieces of metal. You’d be able to do that without me…”

Kenji audibly groans, grabbing Tenten’s attention. “I don’t  _ want _ to do that without you,” he says firmly, making her widen her eyes and flush a deep red.

“D-don’t say things like that… dummy,” she raises herself from his lap and tries to stand, only to fall over and be cough by said ‘dummy’. “I get it… thanks.”

Tenten makes her way to the couch and waits for her chakra to replenish. It takes her a small power nap to do so and when she wakes up, there’s a wonderful smell of Kenji’s home-prepared fried chicken waiting for her on the table. Sakura is already sitting happily and has dug in, while Kenji is simply smiling at her prone form from his chair.

After Tenten joins them for their early dinner, they return to their separate working areas, with Kenji’s clones helping Sakura in the room further down the hall. Another thirty minutes pass before Kenji gives her some extra advice on how the Jutsu works, which allows her to finally make the clone in all it’s glory—just one clone, but he doubted that she even had enough chakra to make more than that at the moment.

Her two companions knew that chakra reserves and chakra control were her weakest attributes, so they were thrilled to see her make such an amazing feat. She and her clone jump in excitement, “I did it!” They say in unison, gathering around Kenji and enveloping him in a Tenten-group hug. Kenji isn’t particularly fazed but is certainly surprised. Despite that, he returns the happy embrace.

“I knew you could do it,” he celebrates, “you just needed time, see? And with this Jutsu, you should be able to get twice the work done.” He lets go of her and flicks his chakra enhanced finger at the clone, making it poof out of existence. The original Tenten flinches when the memory comes waving back at her, causing Kenji to stir.

“You get used to it after a while,” the boy laughs at her, “c’mon, let’s go check on Sakura-chan.”

* * *

The month after that day was nothing but a mountain of improvements. With all Kenji, Tenten, and Sakura using their shadow clones each day to enhance their skill gathering, they became well-tuned in their weaknesses. At first, Sakura and Tenten only thought about using the new B-Rank Jutsu for fighting and, more specifically, recon, but when Kenji explains to them the true nature of it and how it can be exploited?

They instantly become ecstatic, creating clones whenever they can, and ordering them to work on various materials all at once. It even worked  _ double _ so with their group; given that all of them knew the Jutsu, all of them could relay study material and work on their defunct skill sets all at once with their created clones. The groups were as such:

Group one: consisting of one Sakura and one Kenji, they will practice their genjutsu until Sakura’s clone dispels from chakra depletion. The remaining clone of Kenji will do physical work in the backyard.

Group two: consisting of one Sakura and fifteen Kenji, a clone or so of Tenten will guide and instruct the group on accuracy and prediction. Ten Kenji’s will be used to run and jump around for moving aiming practice, while the last five will focus on dodging gradually faster close-combat attacks until dispelled. Once the original Kenji has replenished his chakra from his kekkei genkai, he will send more to the backyard.

Group three: consisting of the original Sakura, original Kenji, and original Tenten for the first hour, each will train their physical bodies to enhance their strength and speed—each will be given a Taijū Seigen Seal on their stomachs. Tenten will direct the team on how to increase their throwing speeds for the first thirty minutes. Next, Sakura will help them to better their chakra control and meditation technique for thirty minutes. Finally, Kenji will direct the team to better their own techniques with the applications of Fūinjutsu.

With this schedule set in place, just moments after Tenten was able to produce more than one clone, they jumped the metaphorical gun. And ride the bullet they did, as they were becoming finely recognized by their peers as determined, hard workers. Even more, after Kenji finally found Kakashi again, the popular white-haired jōnin offered to teach the star-eyed boy that jutsu he was asking for. 

Of course, it came at a price, as asked by Kakashi. One that Kenji was more than able to provide, sharing with the older shinobi several slips of his special  _ Perfect Transformation Seal _ . Just as he thought, the jōnin was instantly hooked and took the bait. Compared to the first slip that he had made, these ones were much more complicated, requiring him to read a medical textbook and so in order to connect the seals with the actual body.

_ ‘This means that, when the seal is activated, you’re able to feel every touch without failure or dispelling. Unless your chakra channels are attacked by physical means, the transformation is entirely corporeal until the seal is consciously removed. Given that the transformation can’t be deactivated without a serious injury and adds weight to your form, it hence the name of Perfect Transformation.’ _ That was what he told Kakashi in short, just to make sure that the seal would be worthy enough of a Shunshin.

Though, after seeing how  _ excited _ Kakashi was to learn the technique, Kenji took a step forward and asked for one more technique. A reasonable one that he knew personally from watching the show—although it was only shown once, he could already see the limitless possibilities with it. The speed that one traveled while using it was an unknown factor, but he was not deterred.

Heading back home, after around three hours of trying to learn the new techniques, Kenji now holds an unfinished  _ Shunshin _ with enough notes to get through the practice, and a full  _ Earth Style: HeadHunter Jutsu _ in his very low Ninjutsu closet. He felt giddy at the thought of  _ finally _ having a tactical Ninjutsu other than his shadow clones, and he also felt relieved that Kakashi thought so highly of his own seal technique.

* * *

“ _ Tetsu no kusari _ ,” Kenji hollers, his fingers rammed together in the typical  _ Ram _ seal. Tenten lets out a shocked gasp when a pair of thick chains erupt from her back and firmly lock her in place. Her body falls to the ground from the air in a resounding thud and she fruitlessly tries to shake herself out of the binding. The chains don’t move an inch, only getting tighter and tighter at each sign of restraint.

“ _ Dammit!” _ The girl shouts, “when did you put it on me? C’mon! This is the third time in a row, Kenji-kun!”

He puts his hands together again and releases the technique, sighing. “I put it on you the second you tried to slash me with your kunai,” he states to her as if it was obvious, “after that, I waited until you gave me the chance to activate the seal.”

She groans in defeat, a saddened look on her face as she drops the two shurikens that were resting in her hands. Crawling to a crossed-leg position, Kenji joins her on the ground. They don’t look at each other. “How did you even put those seals on me in the first place… I thought I destroyed your tags in the beginning?”

Kenji smiles at her analytical thinking. “That’s right! You did,” he starts, “but just because you took my seals away doesn’t mean I’m defenseless. I’ve kept this a secret, but I recently learned how to apply seals by using just my chakra. I can teach you it later if you—”

“No… I mean, yes, but I can’t believe I lost three times today.”

Tenten blushes when her friend slowly pulls her head into his chest. “And I can’t believe that you almost won each time.” Her head doesn’t move to give him her incredulous look, but Kenji knows that she’s curious. 

“When you jumped, I knew you were going to pull out your new technique. If I hadn’t subdued you right there, I would’ve been too injured to continue—and, just a bit of advice, I think your seal would combine greatly with the  _ Chakra-seeking Chains _ technique.”

“You really think that?”

“That you would’ve won?” He tilts his head, “I’m on the verge of death already, are you serious?”

They both fall into a quiet laughing fit, sweating harshly under the blazing heat of Konoha. As for the pink-haired girl of the group, she inquired to stay inside and practice her genjutsu techniques until she finally finished the last few steps, given that she was closer than ever before towards learning an actual jutsu. The one she was looking at was very familiar to Kenji, and even if it was a D-Rank, it was nice to finally get the girl interested in the offensive.

Slowly, yet surely, he was making a team designed specifically for capturing. It was a strange, sudden shower-idea that came to him a few months ago, but it made plenty of sense now. With his seals, Tenten’s pinpoint accuracy, and Sakura’s genjutsu, capture could be the only word that fits them as a team.

Returning to the air-conditioned home, he and Tenten stumble into the front room with tired eyes and wrecked up bodies. It became tradition for them to spar once a week to test their abilities, and they almost had to drag Sakura into the idea because of her low confidence. 

She wasn’t  _ good _ at fighting, but she was much quicker and flexible because of her skinny and aerodynamic figure. It was also because of her great chakra control that she already mastered the tree climbing skill, and was quickly progressing to water walking. Kenji and Tenten could also perform the former, but only for so long since they’d just got into it. 

One thing that both Kenji and Sakura agreed on was that she’d be better than the rest of them to learn genjutsus and confuse people into walking into traps, or paralyzing them. Scaring them into shock was also a major option, with most of the genjutsu theories involving  _ Yin _ or  _ Yang _ release. Something that they were very far from understanding, but something that Sakura could use to a degree.

Her routine consisted mostly of creating three or less shadow clones that would continually test their Yin-Release against each other until they were met with the proper results. As it turned out, one of the reasons that genjutsu was such a hard practice to study was because it mainly  _ required _ somebody to test on. 

Most would simply use their genjutsu on animals for results, but animals and people were completely different subjects, and there was no way that Sakura was going to miss out on her shadow clone opportunity. Soon, she knew, she’d have her very first D-Rank genjutsu ready for use.

“So?” Sakura mumbles from her spot on the couch, a book in her hands as her two shadow clones meditate. “Did Tenten beat you again?”

Tenten shakes her head and plops onto the couch, her armpits whizzing up a deodorant breeze from all the sweating. The same applies to Kenji. “Not this time,” Kenji wheezes harshly, “even… beat her three times… she was really close, too.”

Sakura snickers a hum and looks at the pair just above her book. “You guys shouldn’t be overworking so much,” she lowers her material and places her hands on Kenji. A small green lick flickers from her palms for several moments until it stabilizes. There’s an enormous smile on her face when the cuts and bruises on his body start to heal.

“Thanks, Sakura-chan,” Kenji bows to her. He lifts his arm for her to heal and she brings the light towards it, fixing the posterior of the skin. “You’d make an awesome Medical-Nin someday, you know? You really learned this stuff fast.”

“It’s just easier to understand than the other stuff, y’know? The only problem is all this genjutsu’s stuff, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Shouldn’t be too long until I can start connecting my  _ Yin Release _ into hand-seals.”

Kenji lowers his arm and turns his back towards her. She brings the light to his back. “Well, if you’re good at it, then I really encourage you to focus on it! Having you on a team would be a life-saver, especially for long missions.”

Tenten nods in agreement. “It’s true,” she huffs, “you only started medical jutsu a few days ago and you’ve already come so far! When I started getting into kenjutsu, it took me a whole month just to hit our targets.”

Sakura blushes faintly at their praise, hiding it by looking down and away from them. “B-be quiet so I can heal you, already…” Once she’s done healing Kenji, her palms find their way to Tenten's face, healing the bruises under her eyes and chin.


End file.
